Doppler Effect
by FeistyFox
Summary: All she wanted was a new, uncomplicated, psycho free life. Apparently that wasn't going to happen. David McNorris/ Original Character.
1. Arrival: Day One

Disclaimer: Boomtown isn't mine but I thought I'd come over and play for awhile.

**1. Arrival**

She really didn't want to be here. She didn't even like living in the city. Not even a small one. And where was she? Los Freaking Angeles. Super. Great. Nothing said success like eight years of intensive higher education followed by the worst job she ever could have gotten. Not that she had much of a choice. Well, she'd had a choice. It was just a really sucky one. Then again her entire existence had taken a pretty drastic turn in the wrong direction recently. Maybe this was what she needed, or so she told herself for the three hundredth time. Shaking her head she turned her thoughts in a different direction. She didn't need to have a nervous breakdown while she was walking into her new job. That could wait until she got to her new domicile.

The sounds of typing, shouting, cursing, and good-natured laughter filled the air as she stepped into the police station. The building was sensory overload. Her eyes swept over the place quickly, scanning and categorizing the dynamics of the station as fast as she could. Spotting the front counter she followed the instructions she had been given over the phone as a cuffed junky was hustled past her. She did her best to ignore the smell of his unwashed body as he passed. Maybe it would be possible to get her olfactory sense removed for the stint of her stay here. Or, less dramatically, she could go and spend her entire first paycheck of air fresheners. Adjusting her large purse over her shoulder she nodded to the middle-aged woman sitting at the long, bullet proofed reception desk.

Putting her best polite smile on she greeted the bored looking woman. "Good morning."

"All requested police reports are at the next window." The woman pointed up and then went back to scribbling something down on her crossword puzzle. That was brusque, and looking at the paper up-side-down through the dirty plexi she could see the woman had the wrong answer. That was really going to screw her up later.

She glanced up to where she pointed and saw a few poorly made signs taped above the four windows. She was currently in line to have her mug shot taken. "I'll keep that in mind for future visits. I actually need to get in. I'm the new psychologist, Darcy Fox."

Bored grey eyes came up to her and then narrowed. "You're the new counselor?"

"Yes."

"Uh-huh." The woman looked her over and she already knew what was going on under her slightly graying curls. Despite her conservative black suit and the severe white blouse she looked her age. At twenty-six she had a youthful face and a short bob that accentuated her age. Had she known the direction her life would be taking three months ago she wouldn't have cut her hair this way. She couldn't do anything about it now though, all she could do was keep her head up and plow through. So, meeting the woman's eyes levelly she didn't look away or blink. Eventually, the other woman gave in. "ID."

Digging out her driver's license she slid it under the small hole cut out of the glass and the woman read her information with a critical eye. With a nod she pushed it back. "All right." She hooked her thumb to the left. "Door's over there."

Going to where she pointed she waited patiently to be let in as a bloody man was shoved in by an equally bloody cop. The dark haired officer was mad as hell, and a portly older cop followed him in with a teasing smile on his face. "That was a good catch, Tom."

"I'm not talking to you right now." The younger man growled.

"Now, Tom-"

"Shut it, Ray!"

She sighed. She had a feeling these two would be in her couples counseling pretty soon. She would need to set that up first thing. Next to her, the door opened and she followed the woman inside. "You're going to need a security card to get in and out of the garage."

"All right, but I have to meet Captain Hicks in five minutes."

"In that case come here when you're done. His office is in the east corner."

"Thank you." But the woman had already turned away and she rolled her eyes. Turning, she began to weave her way toward the rear of the large station. She felt eyes following her from every visible area and kept her shoulders straight. She knew better than to show anything other than confidence in front of a room full of cops, detectives, and criminals. If she did she wouldn't make it long here. A low buzz started at the oddity that was her presence as she stopped in front of a battered door with the captain's name on it. She was sure they were all trying to figure out who she was now.

Ignoring them, she knocked firmly and waited. A few seconds later and the door opened. A balding black man opened the door. She met his dark eyes levelly and held out her hand. "Good morning, I'm Darcy Fox."

He took her hand and shook it firmly. She liked that. "Miss Fox, come in."

"Thank you." She needed to get used to that name, like, now. In this place not reacting to it would cause major suspicion. She stepped past him as he held the door open for her and sat in a chair he indicated. He shut the door firmly and sat in front of his cluttered desk. She could never figure out how people worked that way. She preferred a much more structured work environment, one where she could actually find a pen should she have to urgently sign her name.

"How was your move? You came all the way from Wisconsin didn't you?"

"I did. The move was fine but I have a lot of unpacking to do."

"Always a joy." Her lip came up a bit. This man seemed genuinely nice. She was relieved. She hadn't really expected that, had prepared herself for a hardnosed prick to be honest. That way if he was she wouldn't be disappointed. "When did you get here?"

"Yesterday afternoon."

"Well, you're going to have to acclimate fast. Jerry left without much notice and he had several open cases, and a few of my officers need to be evaluated in the next three days." He looked her over. "Director Hass said you were one of the best profilers he had. Is that true?"

"I do have a knack for it." This was an understatement. She was damn good and she knew it. However, it tended to freak people out when she started to analyze them so she tended to keep that talent to herself until someone needed, or ask for it.

"Good. Two of my detectives will want to talk to you as soon as they get in."

"All right."

"Come on, I'll show you your office."

She stood as he did and followed him back out into the bullpen. She was sure everyone had been waiting for them to emerge by the number of people watching to see where she was headed. One would think in L.A. they would have better things to do with their time then track a newbie. Unless, of course, no one knew she was supposed to be here. "Have you told them you filled this position?"

"No."

Right, that was weird. "Can I ask why?"

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "We've been having some problems with I.A." He put the slightest emphasis on 'problem'.

"Ahh." She would be considered part of internal affairs, at least to a certain degree. This was problematic. She would have issues relating to the officers if they wouldn't talk to her to begin with.

"Don't worry too much about it. It's really more of a personal problem with one of the I.A. officers. They should warm up to you in a week or so."

More likely when she proved to be beneficial. She sure couldn't blame them for that. Until then she would be on thin ice. Right now she was an untrustworthy stranger in a place with a complex, and most likely dangerous social structure. She was sure there were at least fifty mini dramas playing out in a department this size at any given time. She'd have to tread carefully with the officers and detectives for awhile.

"Here it is." He indicated the door on the opposite side of the department as his and dug around for the key on his giant key ring. Locating it at last he wrestled with it for a moment before getting it off and unlocking the door. When he was done he handed the rusted gold key to her and waved at the door. Taking that as permission to enter what was now her domain she pushed the door open and repressed a sigh. The place was a total wreck. The filing cabinets were overflowing, there was paper all over the floor, she swore she saw something skitter under a chair, and she couldn't even see the desk it was so covered with stuff of every kind.

The captain must have seen what she was thinking because he laughed. "Maybe I should have scheduled a day or two for you to clean this place out before throwing you to the wolves."

"That's fine." Stepping in, she turned on the light. At least there was a pretty big window even if it was facing the side of a brick building. "I'll take care of it if I could swipe some boxes. It'll make it easier to reorganize."

"Not a problem. I'll have one of the interns bring you a few. They're getting underfoot today."

"Thank you."

He nodded and pointed to the desk. "Those are the new cases. The ones in the left pile are priorities and the blue file on the top has your network name and password. You can change it once you log into the system."

She tried to determine exactly where these piles he was talking about started and ended in the vast wasteland of dead trees. "Okay."

"Make sure you get a security card and garage pass before you leave today. I don't want you getting mugged on your way through the front door."

"Does that happen often?" She asked, half knowing the answer after seeing the lobby.

"More than you would think. It is L.A."

"Good to know." She made a mental note to get a chain lock for her door at home as well as a security system installed. She also needed to locate her gun as soon as possible and hide it in her bedroom.

"If you need anything let me know. I should be in and out of my office all day."

Pulling out her car keys she set her bag down next to the desk, praying no roaches crawled into it, and started putting her new key on ring. "Thanks, I'll go ahead and get started."

"And so you know we'll have your name plate for the door here tomorrow. I wanted to be sure you were here before it went up."

Umm, okay. She was starting to wonder how many psychologists they had gone through if they waited to get nameplates. She smiled at him in false understanding and he turned and walked out. Reaching for the first of the urgent files she began to read as she stood behind her desk. There was no way she was sitting down until she cleared the chair off. She'd just get through these and start on her clean up. She wouldn't be able to work in this cluttered of a space for long or she'd go crazy, again.

She left the door open while she worked to encourage visitors to come and meet her. She didn't get any for almost two hours and when she did they were all business. There was a sharp, short knock and two men walked in. They were detectives. She could tell by the casual way they were dressed and the flash of a badge on the white man's hip. Standing up, because she cleaned up the chair, she held out her hand and smiled at them. "Hello, I'm Darcy Fox."

The larger detective, a tall back man in his thirties that filled the room with his presence, engulfed her considerably smaller hand in his. "Nice to meet you. I'm Bobby Smith but everyone calls me Fearless."

Letting her go the other man, who had kind eyes, caught her hand. "I'm Joel Stevens. Everyone calls me Joel Stevens."

Her lip curled up at the corner. "It's nice to meet you." She eyed the chairs. "If you can find a place to sit feel free." Fearless chuckled and picked up the large box on one of the two chairs in front of her desk. Tossing it to the side it hit the ground with a thump and he folded himself into the chair. She sat down again as Joel made himself comfortable. "What can I do for you?"

"Dr. Fox-"

She cut him off gently. "Darcy is fine."

The tall detective gave her a more genuine smile. "Darcy, the captain tells us you might be able to help us find a suspect."

"I can try. Do you have the report?"

"It's in the system."

"Oh." She spun slightly and opened the blue folder. At least she had already booted the computer up, it had taken a good ten minutes for the poor old thing to come to life. Typing in the information that was requested the computer made a buzzing noise and she felt her eyebrows popping up. "That didn't sound healthy."

Joel laughed softly as she pushed away from her desk to look at the actual computer. She might need to take it apart to fix that. Later. While she looked at it Fearless started to talk. "We seem to have an arsonist on the loose."

"Without looking at anything I can tell you in most instances your looking for a young male. Teenagers are usually the culprits behind most fires."

"We know. We've torn the neighborhoods apart but we aren't coming up with anything. We even have people cooperating with us."

She began searching for a pad of paper and a pen as she answered. "That tends to happen more when they might be in imminent danger." She found a pad but kept digging. "It might help if you took me to one of the houses." She found a pen and hoped it worked as she shook it to get the ink to flow.

"What?"

She began to scribble notes quickly as the system finally opened. "Take me to one of the scenes. What's the file number?"

Fearless looked at Joel. "Take you?"

"Yes. File number." Joel gave it to her and she typed it in quickly. The computer buzzed as the report came up. She scanned it quickly but thoroughly. When she was about three quarters through she asked a question. "Are these people related?"

"No."

She tilted her head and scrolled down. "Are you sure?" She kept reading and then found pictures and looked at them carefully.

Joel answered her. "We can't find anything to link them. We've checked all their houses and credit card reports." Fearless had his eyes on her and she knew he was watching her process things to see what she could do. She didn't mind. She liked knowing how people worked and it was clear to her that Fearless was the more aggressive of the two. At least at the moment. Joel was flipping through his own file and she knew he was trying to confirm what he had said. "No friendships, relationships, business dealings. They don't work in the same-"

She saw the pattern and cut him off as politely as possible. "They all go to the same place."

Surprised eyes shot to her. "What?"

She turned the screen and pointed to a burned blue wrapper. Then she scrolled down and pointed to another and then another. The last one could barely be seen under a part of the wall. None of them had letters. "Where is this wrapper from?"

"Damn." Fearless had leaned forward to see better. "You have a good eye."

She shrugged. "If they all shop or eat at the same place this is a grudge. Guy's pissed and wants revenge. He's probably in his thirties and white. He has a menial job and doesn't get to give orders. He just takes a lot of crap. I'm betting he's in sales or part of a wait staff at a medium class restaurant. He'd have access to their credit cards and then their information. One of your victims might use cash on occasion, that would throw of the financial analysis you were doing."

"How would he get the information from the cards?" Fearless asked.

"Hacker. It isn't that hard. I could get yours in about ten minutes and I'm not even that good at it. These people probably slighted him in some way and he was at the end of his rope. Classic you get yours thing." She turned the monitor back around and scribbled down the age, description, general location he might be in, IP addresses they should check, and her cell phone number in case they needed to talk to her. Ripping the page off she handed it to Joel. "If you need me my cell is on there. It's always on. Sorry I can't help with the paper ID on that receipt. I've only been here for twelve hours. Do you need anything else?"

Fearless barked out a laugh. "If you gave us anything else we wouldn't have jobs for much longer." He stood up and Joel followed. "Thanks, Darcy."

"Sure." They were walking out when she thought of something. "Hey, is there coffee here?"

Joel pointed out and to the left. "Next to the vending machines. I'm not sure you can call that sludge coffee though."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Fearless shook his head. "We'll let you know if we find him."

"Okay. Good luck." They left and she went back to the important files. She hoped they got the guy.

Author Note: Leave me one!


	2. Sterilize: Day Three

Disclaimer: Boomtown is not my property.

**2. Cleaning**

She hated this office, with a passion. Glaring daggers at the filing cabinet she was sorting through she realized she was displacing her anger. It wasn't the room's fault a slob had worked in here for nearly twenty years. There was no need to send karmicaly bad thoughts at the four walls that were doing their very best to be a nice and loving office to her. Really, they were trying the best they could given the age and lack of love the were receiving. She bet the poor things hadn't been painted since the seventies. Was that the walls fault? No, that was neglect pure and simple. Poor things. She should hang some pictures up to boost their self-esteem. She'd have to get the cobwebs off first, but no big deal.

With that conclusion made she shifted her anger from the office to the stranger that was Jerry, the previous therapist, and flipped open the next manila folder. Personnel. Tossing it in the appropriate box she pulled the next one. She had been at this task for nearly two days now and her temper was starting to fray. This was driving her crazy. There was only so much she could clean in a day and she had barely broken the halfway mark. It wasn't like she could just trash all this stuff. She had to go through it to be sure she didn't loose anything important. There were files from last year mixed in with things that had happened from before she was born. It wasn't helping that all her clothes, which she took such pride in picking out and wearing, because appearances counted no matter what anyone said to the contrary, were constantly covered in dust and sweat. And the bottom of her shoes, the last love she had left, were covered in bug guts because she was not going to live with beetles, roaches, and those horrible long silverfish running about her floors. Squishing them on sight had been her first, and only, response to said vermin. This was her territory now and she wasn't keen on sharing.

But at least she was a fast worker. She had made it through the dozen or so files that had needed her attention immediately in a few hours that first day. It would have taken her less time than that but the mess was a distraction. Once she got this place under control things would be markedly better. She would actually be able to do her job in a helpful and productive manner. How novel an idea.

Leaning against the drawer, she was reading over an interrogation script from ten years ago when her door slammed open so hard it bounced off the chair she had behind it, and knocked over two of the full boxes that had been sitting in it. Her mouth dropped open in horror as a large hand stopped the door dead on it's way back. A tall, blond linebacker in an Armani suit stormed in and started shouting. Her first thought, other than dismay over the files being destroyed, was that the man needed to get in the sun or something. She wasn't sure she'd ever met an albino before. Talk about total lack of skin pigmentation. It was rather eerie truth be told.

"Who signed this?" He snapped in a loud and demanding voice as he shoved an open file toward her so she could identify it.

Her grey eyes flashed up from the report she'd written the day before. That was it, she didn't care if he was a genetic anomaly that she could potentially study for the sake of humanity. She was pissed. It had taken her hours to sort those files and now they were strewn all over the floor! They had been in alphabetical order for God's sake! Alphabetical! Did he have any comprehension of the mental anguish he was causing her? All her work was a mess of loose papers and lost hope of ever getting this stupid project done and out of her life forever. "Excuse me?"

"Where's your boss?" Ice blue eyes swept over the small office, searching for another psychologist that might be hiding under the desk or something, dismissing her without a second glance. "I'm not talking to an cowering and incompetent intern about this!"

She was not cowering, she was puffing up in rage. "What?"

"Fox! Where is he?"

Well, fuck him and his chauvinistic attitude. He could bite her. "I'm Fox." Her voice was hard as steel.

He sent her a look that told her he wasn't buying that for a second. "Cute."

She decided she didn't like this guy in the slightest. Slamming the drawer of the filing cabinet shut she stalked up to him and ripped the file out of his hands. Jabbing him in his vest clad chest with the corner of it she started backing him out of her office before he knew what was happening. "Look, dude, I don't know who you think you are storming into _my_ office and screaming at me but that's not gonna fly! I am not an intern and I am not impressed with this head-up-your-ass attitude! If you want something from me I suggest you make an appointment, or at the very least knock!" By this point she had the startled man backed into the bullpen and people were turning to watch her berate him with immense interest. She figured her shouting wasn't exactly going under the radar. She could tell, after the last thirty seconds, that discretion was not going to be her friend when dealing with this particular person. So she went with dead blunt. She was going to be really clear about her future expectations where he was involved. "Until you manage to get some common courtesy drilled into that bleached head of yours, step off!"

With that she took a step back, grabbed the side of the door, and slammed it shut in his face. She was pretty sure it hit his nose at the sound of a grunt on the other side of the paneling. She heard a chorus of exuberant laughter erupt on the other side of the battered wood and tossed the file on her desk without interest. She didn't care what kind of problem he had with it. Going back to the drawer she opened it and continued on with her previous task. For the moment she was going to ignore the new mess spread out over her previous clean, well mostly, floor. It was too much for her to acknowledge until she got her temper back under control. Seconds later and there was a light knock on the door. "Yes?"

"May I come in?" Ghost boy asked at a reasonable volume.

"Has your attitude improved?" She called. His new politeness wasn't at all convincing to her. There was more muffled laughter.

"Oh, absolutely." His sarcasm wasn't lost on her.

"I'm sensing some insincerity, ghost boy." The snickers continued and she heard Fearless rumble something too low for her to make out with the door closed.

She heard a muffled growl of annoyance and her lips curled up in victory. "I apologize for my behavior, Dr. Fox." Nice smooze there at the end, acknowledging her title.

"Then you can come in if you pick up the boxes you knocked over."

The door opened more slowly and the tall man stepped inside. She didn't bother to look at him as she chucked a file in a box. This was getting old. She heard rustling and glanced up to see him shoving the files in their boxes and setting them on the chair. Then he turned and stared at her impatiently.

Since he picked up the mess without a fight, and took the scolding and subsequent embarrassment pretty well, she decided to play nice, at least for the moment. "What is it you need?"

"I need to know why your signiture is on the Martinez case."

"Why do you need to know that?" She asked distractedly. This report was fairly interesting. Much more so than an albino in a designer suit. She wondered if she could find a circus to come get him. She could tell, already, that he was going to be an annoyance. If she played her cards right she bet she could even get a fairly good price for him if she took care of delivery herself. He was big, but she was sure that if she were properly motivated she could get him in her trunk after she knocked him senseless.

He interrupted her musings. "Because I'm the deputy district attorney. I'm taking him to his hearing tomorrow."

Ah, that totally explained the attitude. Not that she wanted to stereotype all lawyers, but there were jokes about the lot of them for a reason. "In that case I suggest you don't go. You'll lose, which I said in my report if I do recall." She frowned down at the file she was holding as she tried to read the messy handwriting. After a second of squinting she decided it was another personnel file and into the box it went. And if it wasn't a personnel file, oh well. She was losing a lot of her motivation to do things right at this point, and dear lord, she needed a pop loaded with marvelous and praise worthy caffeine or she was going to snap.

"What?"

"I saw the interview." It wasn't even an exciting one. Two of the detectives, a young woman and her middle aged male partner who she was sure were having some sort of affair, hadn't been the gung ho team she had been hoping for. Could you say boring? Because she had nearly fallen asleep watching it. "It's my professional opinion that the man didn't kill your victim."

"How could you possibly know that?" He asked suspiciously before his tone turned accusatory. "Do you know what this assessment is going to look like to the judge? I'll get thrown out of the courtroom!"

His problem didn't really bother her at all, but there was no reason to make an enemy of him. An annoyance was one thing, and adversary that was established in this place was a totally different matter. That was really the last thing she wanted or needed. She could play nice if she had to, so she extended an olive branch of sorts. "If you want me to re-evaluate him then have one of the officers bring him to interrogation and I'll question him personally. I very much doubt it's going to change my opinion though." She shrugged. "Plus, he's in withdraw at this point, he won't be very coherent."

"You know he's going to walk if I file that!" So true, at least on the current charges.

"It's your prerogative to leave my report out of your hearing. I'm just saying you'll lose when the lab comes back with the results."

"You don't think they're going to find his DNA and fingerprints all over the evidence?"

"I'm sure there will be some there. There won't be any on the ax though. That'll really destroy the whole thing. He was too high to have done it." She was starting to suspect the attorney had stopped reading her evaluation about mid-way through. He probably got pissed and stormed over here without finishing. If he had read it she wouldn't repeating what she typed out in painful detail.

"Just because you think he was too buzzed to kill anyone doesn't mean you're right. Have you ever seen a junky hopped up before?"

Nothing like an underhanded jab at her professional experience to cement a working relationship. She remained patient because she was starting to suspect he mind have a mental deficiency of some sort, or so she told herself so she would remain pleasant. "Yes, believe it or not. And nowhere in my report did I say he couldn't kill someone. He's a high functioning opiate user. He was perfectly capable of killing. What he wasn't capable of was hitting the victim's neck in the same spot four times in a row. His motor skills at the time of the homicide simply wouldn't allow him to do that. You're looking for someone that's handled an ax before. He's probably white and between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-two judging by his preference of his female target and the M.O." She suddenly remembered something she forgot to write down. This, she would admit, was her bad. She wouldn't forget to do that again. "Oh, and he's left handed."

"Left handed?"

"Did I stutter?" She tossed another file in a box next to her feet.

"How do you know he was left handed?" His suspicion was back.

"I went to the autopsy. The striation marks on her vertebra indicate a left handed individual. Not that I can testify to that. You'll need a medical expert, but really with the angle of entry and the fulcrum necessary to nearly sever her head from the rest of her body, there's no other plausible explanation. Martinez isn't even tall enough to produce that kind of leverage at that gradient." She moved on quickly, eager to get this man out of her office.

"From a psychological standpoint I would bet good money that whoever did that was after her whole head and got interrupted. By, oh I don't know, Martinez for example. He scared the murderer off, because who wouldn't be jumpy getting caught taking a head as a trophy, and he was forced to abandon his prize." She shrugged. "So the junky walks in and starts touching things because he's high, and they're pretty, or shiny, or god knows what. Maybe he thinks they smell like fresh baked bread his mamma used to make. I don't know and it doesn't matter. He passes out a few minutes later from the drugs and the cops find him on scene. Meanwhile, your real murderer has hightailed it out of the alley and to a hidey hole while the druggy takes the rap."

"And you think I should let Martinez go because of a hunch?"

Did any of that sound like a hunch to him? What with the detail and inclusion of forensic evidence? "It's not a hunch and I didn't say that either. He's a junky and a drug dealer. I would think such a shining example of DDA perfection, such as yourself, could keep him in prison for that. Or is that too much for you to handle on your own? Want me to walk you through that too?"

His eyes narrowed briefly and she knew she had riled him. "I liked Jerry better."

"I'm hurt beyond words." She replied dryly as she tossed yet another folder in the box. Grabbing the file he brought with him off the desk, he turned on his heel and stalked out of her office without another word. That had been fun. She shook her head as Ray walked in with joviality radiating out of him.

"That was a beautiful thing to see."

Her eyebrow quirked up. "I'm happy you're happy."

"Do you know what this calls for?"

"What, what calls for?" She asked in confusion.

"You just put David McNorris in his place. I don't think I've ever seen that happen before."

"Are you about to pronounce this a national holiday?" She wouldn't be surprised with how gleeful the cop suddenly was.

"Nope, I'm going to take you to lunch." He replied.

"You're going to get me out of this messy black hole of doom?" She asked to be sure of his intentions.

"If you can crawl over the boxes I am."

"Sold." Leaping over two of the boxes in question, she twisted and snagged her purse off her desk before snaking her way to the door. "Where are we going?"

"Do you like Mexican?"

"Do you breathe air?"

He chuckled and motioned to Tom, his partner, who was leaning against the wall chatting with another cop. "We're taking out the newbie."

Her lip twitched. "Is that what you're calling me around here?"

Ray sent her a friendly smile. She figured he was a pretty good cop. From their interactions she liked him as a person. "Only when you can hear us. When you can't we're calling you the sterilizer."

She let out a bark of laughter laugh. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Tom said as they headed toward the elevator. "After seeing you neuter McNorris I think it'll stick.

"Eh." She shrugged. "There are worse nicknames."

"You have no idea." The younger cop said that with too much emphasis. She grinned as he leaned against the elevator wall. There was a story there.

"Should I ask?"

"No." Tom replied at once.

"Sea nymph." Ray provided with a smirk, ignoring his partner's interest in avoiding the discussion.

"Ray!"

She tried desperately hard not to laugh. "That's very… whimsical."

"I thought so when I gave it to him." Ray was pleased with himself.

"Why'd he get it?"

Tom grumbled. "I fell in the river chasing a suspect."

"The L.A. river?" He nodded and she scrunched up her nose. That was not the cleanest place in the world. The poor man probably got some sort of disease before he escaped it. "That's nasty."

"You have no idea. Six showers later and I still didn't feel clean."

"Did you catch who you were chasing?"

"Not that day."

She shrugged. "At least you got him."

"He didn't." Ray said as his humor faded away. The elevator doors opened and they headed toward their patrol car. "Gravity got him the next day."

"Gravity?" She asked. That made no sense.

"He fell from a six story building."

"Oh." Now she wasn't sure she wanted to know anymore. She focused on something much more pleasant. "So, is this place your taking me any good?"

Tom smiled as the mood lifted. "Best Mexican in town. Just stay between us and hold onto your purse."

She shot him a look. "You really think someone is going to rob me while I'm in there with you?"

"Yes." They chorused together. L.A. was such a safe place to live. Not that any other place was any safer. At least you knew what you were in for here. That was something.


	3. Cross: Examination Month One

Disclaimer: Boomtown does not belong to me.

**3. Cross Examination- Month One**

Joel looked over from the tapes of their first interrogation she had already watched. Twice. "What do you think?" The detective asked her at last. She was impressed with the man's patience. Her first instincts on him being relatively mellow in normal situations was proving to be accurate. Joel Steven's was a calm, sweet, and deeply loving individual. The female part of her wished he were single instead of married, the profiler in her wanted to see him revved up so she knew what kind of personality he had hidden under the one he let society see. She bet it was a lot less polite.

She had been looking over the pictures of the scene for the last thirty minutes in total silence. She had a feeling all three men were becoming impatient as she took her time considering what must have happened. Joel and Fearless she understood, this was their case, but McNorris was here too. The man always seemed to show up out of nowhere. It was a little bit creepy and a lot annoying.

She never knew when her guard should be up, because sure as the sun rose in the east she needed her guard up around him. He was a clever, manipulative, sneaky, brilliant bastard. It made her nervous and she didn't like that at all. She didn't like the way he glanced around her office and noticed she had nothing personal in it the same way she didn't like him sniffing around her. He caught a whiff of something interesting, most likely her underlying damage, and was trying to identify what it was. Her continual attempts to chase him away with sarcasm or distraction were proving fruitless, so she started looking into his life so she could blackmail him if she had to.

She had ferreted out as much information on the man as she could, and this time she had been discrete. What she learned didn't surprise her all that much. He was in his late thirties, divorced due to an infidelity, devoted to his job to the point of obsession, and overall put up with. He was put up with, as opposed to loathed, because he was damn good at his job. The man rarely lost a case, and when he knew there was no way to win he would often find a loophole to work with to at least get as much as he could out of a situation. The detectives, and Joel in particular, seemed to get behind him. Ray was another story entirely. The two had a history that neither seemed eager to let go of. She would need to delve into that more deeply. There had to be pay dirt, but even Ray and Tom, the hard working and fun loving cops, needed a gentle hand. If she didn't go easy they would shut down on her, then there would be no way to wring any information out of them.

Flipping to the next image she cocked her head to the side before referring to the autopsy report. After a confirming her hunch she answered. "I think you've talked to the killer already."

"I can see why they pay you." McNorris commented dryly.

"No one asked you, ghost boy." Fearless smirked as the nickname that he so hated left her lips and the attorney clenched his jaw. The dark detective took off his baseball cap and ran his hand over his head in an effort to wake himself up. Both of the detectives were worn out. She couldn't blame them. They had been called in at four in the morning to go to the scene of the latest in a string of strangle victims. All female, all tall, all blond. Looking at the bigger man she pulled her legs up and spun around in the chair. "Tell me about his relationship with his girlfriend."

"Fiancé." Fearless corrected.

"Fiancé." She agreed as she spun.

"They've lived together for the last three months. They've been together for two years. She's quiet but she hasn't left the station since we brought him in six hours ago. She's attached."

"Really?" She questioned neutrally.

She saw Joel nod as she whipped around. Suddenly, her progress was halted when the DDA grabbed the back of the chair and held it still. She nearly toppled out of it as her momentum threw her to the left. "Hey!" She clutched at the armrest to save herself a trip to the floor. "That helps me think!"

"I'm starting to realize you don't do that." The attorney replied without remorse for nearly killing her.

She glared for a moment before it melted into a smirk. He narrowed his electric blue eyes at her change in demeanor. She was bored and wanted to put him in his place. "Wanna bet?"

"Bet?" Both the detectives turned to watch as the attorney got interested fast.

She already had the answer to this puzzle but there was no reason she couldn't get some personal gain out of the thing. "I'll bet you fifty bucks I get a confession that you can take to court and win with in twenty minutes once I get into the interrogation room."

Fearless shook his head and sighed out a warning to her. "Watch yourself, sweetness."

"Deal." McNorris stuck his hand out before she could change her mind and she shook it firmly.

Grinning, she gathered up the files and stood up. "Hey, Joel?"

"Yes?"

"Can you put the girlfriend in an interrogation room?" She bounced toward her office happily. "I'll be there in a minute."

"The girlfriend?"

"Yup." Making it to her office she grabbed a couple of water bottles, an evidence bag, and a pair of gloves. Done, she closed her door so anyone needing to talk to her would know she was busy, and made her way to the viewing area of the second interrogation room. Brian, the boyfriend, was cooling his heels in the other one.

Looking through the one-way glass she assessed the woman on the other side. After a moments contemplation she shoved the file at the DDA and shrugged out of her suit jacket. Tossing it over his shoulder, if he was just going to stand here there was no reason he couldn't be her coat rack, and ran her hands up into her hair and rearranged it quickly. When she was done she unbuttoned the top few buttons of her blouse so more skin was showing. She needed to look as young as possible. "What are you doing?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

"Nowhere in the bet did I say I had to explain myself to you." She said it with a small smile as she went at her hair a second time. She needed to be young and relatable, but she wasn't going to tell the attorney that. Taking the file she looked at Fearless, who clearly thought this was the funniest thing he had seen all day. "Is the camera on?"

"It is."

She pointed to the old clock on the back wall. "Okay, it's 11:23. Synchronize your watches." With that she walked out and into the small room with her killer. Putting on her fake persona she opened the door and set her file down on the table. "Good morning, Alice." Putting one of the water bottles she had taken from her office she set it in front of the nervous woman.

"Good morning." The other woman whispered nervously.

Easing into this she set the woman at ease. She kept her voice soft and mellow and made her eyes as wide and trusting as possible. "I'm Darcy Fox. I'm the department's therapist. I was hoping we could talk for a few minutes."

Her fake persona was working because Alice visibly relaxed. "Sure, is Brian in trouble?"

"He is."

Alice bit her lip. "What did he do?"

"He murdered three women."

"What?" Her blue eyes flashed in distress. "No, he didn't."

"He did." She sat back and opened her water bottle. "You're lucky." She assured her, trying to console and reassure all at once.

"Lucky?"

Nodding, she pulled three photos out of the top of the file. They were snapshots of the women before they had been murdered. "Do you notice anything about them?"

"About them?"

She tapped the photos to gain her attention and Alice looked down. "They all have blond hair?"

Interesting that she picked up on that instead of anything else. All the women had blue eyes and similar facial structure as well, but she hadn't said they looked alike. Her focus was on the hair. "Yes. The shade is remarkably similar to yours." The young woman touched her hair and she caught a closer look of the messy bun it was in. Her eyes zoomed in on it for a quarter of a second before returning to Alice's face. "He likes that, Brian does. You could have been next."

The woman shook her head vehemently. "Brian would never hurt me. He would never hurt anyone."

"I can appreciate that your loyal to him but the detectives found the rope he strangled the women with in your apartment. It was in the closet under his suitcase. Do you understand what that means?"

"That he's in trouble." The other woman responded miserably.

She nodded in agreement, and knowing she had the woman in the corner and mindset she wanted her in, she started herding her toward the answers she wanted. "Do you know where he was last night?"

"At home asleep."

"All night?" She pressed.

"I think so."

Tilting her head she nudged Alice some more. "You think so?"

The other woman shrugged. "I'm a deep sleeper."

"So he could have left while you were sleeping?" Alice nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

Gathering up the pictures she put them in the folder and started to get up. Alice leaned toward her as desperation started to settle in. "That's all?"

She paused as she stood and stared down at the other woman. "Yes."

"What's going to happen to Brian?"

"He'll go to jail. They might execute him."

Alice's eyes filled with tears and she crowed triumphantly inside. She walked to the left, so the camera was focused on the young woman and she was in the background of the shot, and crouched down next to her. Reaching out she squeezed the woman's hand. "I'm sorry. I know this is hard to get your head around."

"We're supposed to get married next month. It's just…he would never hurt anybody."

Leaning closer she waited until blue eyes that were full of unshed tears found hers. "I know."

"You believe me?"

"I do."

"No one else does. Why do you?"

"Because you're wearing the hair you took from them as a ponytail." Blue eyes widened as a single tear trailed down her cheek. "Tell me, did you like the color, or did he look at them the way he should have been looking at you?"

"He was mine!" Her hand flew up to show the engagement ring. "I won! He's going to be my husband and no one else's! He had no business watching them like that! It was disgusting!"

Oh, she did love the crazies. Finding their switch was like digging for gold. It was so terribly satisfying when you hit pay dirt. She followed Alice's line of thought with ease. This was what she did, what she was good at. "So you made sure they wouldn't get in the way of the wedding?"

"I had to."

She nodded in understanding. She needed to stay on Alice's side until everything was out. "Like it wasn't stressful enough getting everything together for it he had to go and be a pig. Did he help you at all or just run around starring at leggy blonds?"

Alice wiped at her eyes as she tried to explain away the murders. "He pretended he wasn't looking at them. That's no way to treat me. He should have been sending out invitations, or helping me with the band. I didn't even want a live band, but he did. It was for him." Her arms moved erratically. "It was for us. A perfect beginning."

"He should have helped. That wasn't very considerate of him. So when you saw them you had to make sure they didn't distract him anymore, right?"

"Right." She seemed relieved that she was following her train of thought and the sorrow in her tone faded away. "Brian's a good man but he's still a man. If you remove the temptation then they don't stray. They stay with you the way they promise they will. I just wanted him to keep his promise."

"Men do covet things they can't have." Reaching into her pants pocket she pulled out the evidence bag and the pair of gloves. "But with their hair he would covet you more. You would be everything he liked. All blond hair and long legs. He already loved what was inside. No one would compare to you. He wouldn't want anyone else."

"Yes. That's it exactly." She touched the bun. "It is pretty isn't it? I know why he looked at them but I'm what he really wanted. I don't mind dressing up to keep his attention."

"We all like to dress up for our guys. It makes us feel special when they look at us like we're the most beautiful things in the world. I do like the ponytail. May I see it?"

"Why?" She asked suspiciously.

She pointed to it. "I'm impressed with it. I want to see how you made it. It must have taken a long time to get it so perfect."

Her guess at the woman's perfectionism was well thrown. "It did." Alice started to take it out and she put on the gloves. The woman was so pleased with herself she didn't notice, or care, why she had the gloves on. "I even used a rope on them so nothing would get on it when I was done."

Like their blood? How well thought out. "Smart." The young woman handed her the ponytail and she looked at it critically. The hairs were woven into it with meticulous, and rather disturbingly impressive care. The woman must have done one hair at a time. It would have taken her freaking forever. "You weaved this?"

"It took me hours and hours." She pointed to the underside where there was less hair. She turned it so she could see what Alice wanted her to. "It's not done yet."

"Were you going to finish it?"

"Only if I had too."

"May I show this to a few of the other women in the department? Really, it's very good. They'll be very impressed with your work."

With extreme reluctance, Alice agreed. "I suppose."

She smiled brilliantly at the other woman. "Thank you, Alice."

"You're welcome. Will we get to talk again?"

"I'm sure we will." Standing up she placed the hairpiece inside the evidence bag before patting Alice's shoulder. "Someone else will be here in a few minutes, all right?"

"Okay. Will you bring it back soon?"

"Soon." She lied. Then she stepped out of the interrogation room and sealed the bag with a quick flip of her fingers. Stepping into observations she handed it to Fearless and peeled off the gloves as the three men stared at her. Smirking, she glanced at her watch. "Twelve minutes." Chucking the gloves into a trashcan like a basketball, complete with a little jump, she threw her jacket on and held out her hand, palm up and open. "Pay up, McNorris."

Without a word he pulled his wallet out of his jacket and removed a fifty-dollar bill. Handing it to her she took it with a happy hum, shoved it in her pants pocket, and left the room. The last thing she heard as she left was Joel. "I'll be damned."

Settling down in her office she brought the computer to life and started to type up her report. After twenty minutes it was done and she saved it into the system before printing off three copies. While her printer worked she put the money in her wallet and dragged her sandwich out of her desk drawer. She was chewing and planning on buying new shoes with her winnings when McNorris walked through the open door, shut it behind him, and leaned over the desk in a totally alpha male posturing display. She raised an eyebrow as she ate.

"How did you do that?"

She swallowed. "Do what?"

"How did you know it was her?"

"It's what I do." She thought that was enough of an explanation and took another bite of her lunch. While she chewed she picked up the first copy of her report, stapled it, and set it inside a folder. Handing it to him she started digging around her paper bag for a drink. Finding her soda she set it on her desk and went back for chips. When she looked up the DDA was holding the caffeine hostage. That was so wrong. "Do I steal your coffee in the morning? That's plain mean."

"Explain." He growled.

"Explain what?" She opened the chips and looked at him calmly.

"How you knew!"

"You are fixated on this." His jaw clenched. "I just know things."

"You just _know_ things?" He repeated in disbelief.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "I'm not the only one. How do you know when you have someone on the ropes in the courtroom? There's not a sign above their heads that says 'you're about to catch me in a lie'. You just know. It's in the air. You can smell their fear, or whatever."

Putting her drink down on the desk a little harder then necessary he sat down in a chair and stared at her unblinkingly. Unfazed, she continued to eat her lunch as she stared right back. "I don't intimidate you at all."

A small laugh escaped her. "No." She tilted her head. "But you do know how to use your eyes don't you?" Dragging her soda can closer she popped the top. "How many people have you freaked out with them?" He raised an eyebrow and she smiled. "Don't try to play with me. You know you have presence. You're a dangerous bastard."

A smile tugged at his lips briefly. It was the first sign of acceptance he had ever shown her. "And yet you aren't afraid."

"No."

"Why?"

She became more serious as she told him what she had determined in the last month. "You may have the physical strength to hurt me but you wouldn't. It's not in your nature to hurt a woman, or anyone you perceive as weaker than you. So in the end as much as you leer, invade my space, or puff yourself up, I'm not in any real danger. You present the illusion of danger, and very effectively, but in the end it's an illusion."

His eyes glittered with danger. "Is that what you think?"

Where she was involved, yes. "It's what I know. I've seen monsters, McNorris. Compared to them you're a puppy dog."

"What do you know about monsters?" He asked like she was an innocent adolescent.

"More than I'd like to." Her eyes went distant briefly before she shoved herself into the moment. One thing she'd learned to do recently was remain in the present at all times.

"And what was Alice?"

"Alice? She's obsessively possessive." She sighed. "Unfortunately, that led to three women dying."

"It could have been worse."

Picking out a chip she looked at him. "How?"

"We nearly let her go."

"She's not going anywhere." Leaning back in her chair she gazed up at the ceiling. "Her defense will try to get her off as a mental case."

"Thank you counselor." She grinned cheekily. "Is she?"

"Crazy?" She shook her head. "I don't think so, but you should probably have her examined by someone else. I doubt any more help from me would look good in court. They'd think I was biased to my own interrogation, which let's face it, I am."

"Fine." He stood up and she waved farewell. Before he opened the door he turned and stared at her for a long moment. "Are you really this good at your job or did you get lucky?"

"Time will tell."

He nodded and left. Finishing her meal, she tossed the remains in the trash and got ready for her one o'clock appointment. Evaluations were really not her favorite thing to do but it would only take an hour or so. Then she could finish her paperwork and go home. A hot shower really did sound awesome.

Author Note: For those of you that asked you can purchase Boomtown on Amazon for about $5 with shipping. It's well worth the money in my opinion. If you want check it out, if not have fun with the story anyway!


	4. Interpretation: Month Three

Disclaimer: Boomtown is not mine.

**4. Interpretation- Three Months**

Her phone rang for the eighth time and she stretched her arm out to hang up on McNorris. She knew it was the attorney because she had changed the ring tone on his caller information. Now it sounded like the death tolls from one of those old horror movies. She thought it was appropriate considering he was trying to kill her by working her to death. The man needed to get a hobby or leave her alone. Either one would work as far as she was concerned.

It really wasn't too much to ask to have one day a week where she wasn't dealing with some sort of law enforcement, or, you know, his face. On Sunday, the day of rest, she should be able to do whatever she wanted. She wanted to be a hermit. Hermit was her new niche. Screw going out, having friends, dating, or otherwise acting like a normal person her age. She was done with that, learned her lesson, and otherwise given up all hope. One day soon she would be a crazy old cat lady. She should probably get a cat to really cement her new personality, her allergy to felines wasn't really much of a consideration, she could get those shots at the doctor's office or something.

Her phone rang again and she hit the button to hang up on him. She learned, over the last hour, that if she let it go to voicemail he would simply hang up and hit redial. He was trying to wear her down. He knew she wouldn't leave her phone off in case someone else called from the department. And normally she would have answered the attorney's calls too, but as she had already told him twice today, it was her day off, and the case he was working on could wait until tomorrow for her to look at. She refused to speak to him again, because if she did it would only relay to him that she could be broken given enough time. The man was trying to train her to heel. She knew it, he knew it, and she refused to have any part of it.

Had it been a legitimate emergency she would have gotten off the beach towel she had laid out in her small fenced in backyard and put on some clothes. As it was, the workaholic was driving her absolutely insane, and it was perfect tanning weather. Sun bathing was something she never got tired of. She knew it was because she had spent the last five years in Wisconsin, where winter lasted the whole freaking year, or so it seemed.

Now she was in California, and as much as she hated the city, at least it was warm and sunny most of the time. That, and she couldn't go to the beach anymore, being a freak as it were, so her backyard was perfect. Stretching out, she sighed happily as the sun beat down on her bare back and legs. It felt so good, heat was the only thing that ever made her back feel good anymore, and she thought this must be what a stick of butter slowly melting from the heat felt like. It was great. She wished she were butter all the time. Her eyes fluttered closed after she tossed her sunglasses to the grass beside her elbow and she let herself drift in a lazy haze. Her phone went off again and she cursed as she jerked to full alertness.

"God damn it!" Reaching out she turned the phone all the way off with sharp jabs at the buttons. If there was an actual emergency the department was shit out of luck. "Get a life you annoying bastard!"

Behind her a deep, male chuckle sounded. "Don't hold those feelings in. I like the ring by the way."

She shrieked and dropped the phone as her heart rate skyrocketed. McNorris continued to laugh to her left as he opened the door in her fence, pleased that he startled her, and she scrambled up as fast as she could. This was bad. Grabbing the towel she whipped it around her exposed skin to hide it. She knew it was too little too late when his chuckle cut off abruptly. He was openly staring at her with his phone still in hand. He must have been calling her in the hopes the sound of her own mobile device would lead him to her, and his plan had worked, he'd found her.

She tried to bluff her way out of the situation. "McNorris!" Clutching the towel with one hand she waved her other hand erratically. "What's the matter with you? How do you even know where I live?"

All humor was gone from his expression. "What happened to your back?" He had seen the scars. There was no way he couldn't have seen them. They covered all the skin from the base of her neck to the small of her back. She ignored his question utterly as her panic rose. It was none of his business what happened to her. It was _nobodies_ business what happened to her.

"I swear to God if I find out you're stalking me, I'll kill you." She stepped past him quickly after snatching up her phone and yanked her slider open. Shutting it behind her she trapped him outside and went to her room to put on some clothes. Trying to get her heart back to a resting rate she tugged on a pair of jeans and pulled a faded green t-shirt over her skimpy bathing suit top. Taking a second to steady herself she walked out to find him leaning on the counter that separated her kitchen and living room.

She pretended like nothing weird had happened. "Why are you here?"

He was watching her with the most calculating look she had ever encountered. Considering the people she worked with in the past that was a pretty damn impressive feat. Ignoring it, she went to her fridge and pulled out a bottle of Dr. Pepper. She refused to offer him anything, he hadn't been invited, and only doctors should be able to drink this beverage. The label said so.

Unscrewing the top, she stared at him and waited. She wasn't going to acknowledge that anything was wrong with her. Had she known he was going to blatantly invade her secluded and fenced in space she never would have been outside in a bikini. She had bought this condo because of the closed in yard. She had wanted privacy. The DDA apparently didn't have personal boundaries.

His blue eyes flickered. It had her on edge. Whenever the man hid his emotions people were brought down like flies in a cold snap. "I need you to come in and watch this interview."

"And I already told you it's my day off." She stated as she put one of her hands on her hip. "Did you honestly think breaking in was going to get me to go with you? You can't bully me, McNorris."

"I'm not trying to bully you." He smiled beautifully, though it didn't reach his eyes. "I came here to offer you a fabulous lunch if you would be nice enough to come with me. Anywhere you want to go."

She rolled her eyes at the bribe. "Please. You think I don't know you use your charm as an intimidation tactic?"

This time his smile was genuine. "Aren't you clever?"

"No, you're just not as smart as you seem to think you are."

He let out a bark of laughter before turning serious. "If intimidation won't work will blackmail?"

Panic raced up her spine. There was no way he could know why she was here was there? "Excuse me?"

"I'd hate to have to go snooping through your past." His eyes ran over her body before resting on her shoulders. "It would be awfully embarrassing if I found out you had a few… less than savory fetishes. I could find out who you're seeing to get off with in a matter of hours. L.A. isn't as big a place as you might think and even the police department you work in, for all its insanity, doesn't look highly upon things like that."

Oh. Or he could go that way with it. He thought she had a fetish, and he thought she enjoyed being whipped? Now that was interesting. It said way more about him then her. She tilted her head and he frowned when he didn't get the furious reaction he was expecting. "And if you found out I did like it? Would you ask to get in on the action?"

His eyes flashed and she realized she had made a very real discovery. "Hardly."

That was a flat out lie. She was onto him now. He had let a lot slip. The profiler in her was sniffing around him like a dog on a bone. Men like him didn't like to loose power. He was too hyper focused on his career to let that happen. He was an overachiever to an extreme degree. Yet his reaction to the thought of masochism, no matter how slight, had been very real. There weren't very many scenarios she could come up with that would have a personality like his searching for that kind of release. "How often did you get hit as a child?"

He visibly tensed. Her guess had been dead on the money. She suddenly didn't hate him as much as she thought she did. The hate shifted pretty dramatically to the bastard that beat him. She had no pity or compassion for child abusers. He stalked toward her dangerously and she held her ground. He wasn't going to hurt her. It wasn't in him to hit a woman no matter how badly he was provoked. That much she knew for sure. He was very aware of how scary he could be, and just how much power he had curled up in large frame. Towering over her he stared down at her with hard eyes. "Quite a lot."

His honest answer surprised her but she didn't let it throw her. "Is that why you're pushing this case so hard?"

He took a step forward, forcing her to step backward into the counter or get knocked over. His arms snapped out to grab the counter on either side of her, pinning her in place. "If this man gets out his kids will be the ones to that get punished instead of him."

She looked up at him silently; assessing what was in front of her. He wasn't… McNorris wasn't what she had had thought he was. It had been a long time since someone surprised her but he just had. He watched her watching him. They were both silent as long seconds ticked by. She decided to see if he would keep being honest. "Was it your father?"

"He ran a… structured household."

"By structured you mean needlessly violent?"

His eyes glittered. "Yes."

She turned that information over for a moment. That was damn unfortunate. "Did you ever hit him back?"

"No."

"Maybe you should have."

"Coming from you that surprises me."

"Why?"

He leaned down and watched her eyes. "You aren't violent."

"You have no idea what I am." He opened his mouth and she cut him off before he could start. "Fine. Let me change and I'll go with you." Shoving his arm away, because he wouldn't hold her there if she wanted to leave, she headed to her bedroom, setting the pop bottle down as she went. "And I want sushi."

She heard him huff as she padded into the hall and then to her room. Shutting herself in she changed quickly and threw on some makeup and jewelry. At least her short hair was easy to get in order. A few quick swipes with a hairbrush and she was done, no one would know that less then fifteen minutes ago she had been in a bathing suit. Grabbing a pair of brown pumps out of her closet she walked out to find McNorris on the phone.

She stopped next to her dinning room table to put on her shoes and saw his eyes rake over her bare legs. Waiting until he closed the phone and moved past her to the door, she whacked him upside the head. "Ow!" He turned and glared at her angrily.

"Eyes up, McNorris. I don't want you ogling me."

He tried to turn his bad behavior back at her. "Then maybe you shouldn't be wearing that skirt. A few inches shorter and I would know more about you than you want me too."

"I'm wearing this so you're perv of a criminal will be distracted, not so you can fantasize."

"Ethical."

"Yeah, cause that's your best quality."

"You're hurting my feelings." There was heavy sarcasm in his voice but she detected something else.

"If it bothers you then stop doing stupid crap to make yourself feel guilty." She paused long enough to pick up her purse and keys. "Or do you enjoy your mellow dramatic self-loathing?"

"You're awfully judgmental for a therapist."

"When the situation calls for it. You seem to need constant, blunt reminders that you're acting like an idiot." She eyed him as she locked her door. "Which I find really frustrating when you know you're being an idiot. Why don't you simply stop being an idiot? It would save both of us a lot of time and I could be nicer to you."

"You could simply be nicer to me." He pointed out.

"So you could run me over? I don't think so."

Walking to his car she was surprised when he reached out and held the door open for her. Accepting the gesture she slid into his car and he shut the door carefully once she was settled. Securing her seatbelt as he got in she turned her cell phone on again and dropped her purse next to her feet. "You're interesting." He commented.

"Well now that I've tickled your fancy all my life goals have been reached. Score one for the team." She reached out to turn on his radio and he rolled his eyes.

"Do you turn everything people say around?"

"It seems to be something we have in common. Maybe I should have become a lawyer and made lots of money."

"You'd be good at it with the way you run people in circles."

"I'm flattered you think so."

"Not even a little." She laughed and leaned back when she found some alternative that was to her liking. McNorris seemed less than pleased with her choice in tunes. That only made her like them more. "Why did you go into psychology?"

"I appreciate honesty."

"And you find that in psychology?"

"Most of the time."

He considered that while he drove. "I don't understand that."

"What don't you understand?"

He turned onto the interstate and she suddenly realized she would have to rely on him to get back home. That was plain sneaky. He had planned to get her in his car, instead of driving separately, so he could control how long he could use her. Despite herself, her respect for his cunning little lawyer brain increased. It had really been an excellent ploy on his part. "What part of your profession involves honesty? How can you get that from crazy people? They're crazy."

"Okay, the proper term is 'mentally ill', ghost boy."

"Semantics-"

"No, actual ailment as opposed to a slur on mental capabilities. That is not semantics, it's an actual medical distinction."

He sent her a sideways glance before letting that go. It was obvious he wanted to stay on her good side at the moment. "Fine. How do you get anything honest out of the mentally ill?"

"They don't think like other people. What they say isn't a lie in their mind. It's what things are."

He wasn't sold on that. "You're trying to tell me that if a sociopath told you he killed someone because God told him to, that he actually heard God?"

"No, I'm saying, that to the best of his understanding, God did, in fact, tell him to do that."

"Bullshit."

She walked into this discussion with more than a little joy. This was actually kind of fun, mostly because she knew the man would be able to argue with her at a high level. "I'm not saying that God actually told him to kill anyone, I'm saying that according to his perception of reality due to his condition, that God told him to kill someone."

"There's no distinction between those two things."

"Yes, there is. Perception is truth."

He let out a huff of disbelief. "No, the truth is the truth."

"Okay, let's go with that theory." She took in their surroundings and smirked when they stopped at a light. "Why did you stop the car?"

He glanced over at her. "Because the light is red." He answered like she was slow.

"Would it be red to me if I were colorblind?"

He saw where she was heading and tried to slither around her argument. "Being 'mentally ill' has nothing to do with how your eyes work. Don't get off topic."

She pushed. "This is completely on topic. If I were colorblind would that light still be red?"

"Of course it would be red. Everyone knows it's red."

"And if I were colorblind I would know that for two reasons. I would know because people told me and because the top of the three lights in the series is always red. If the top light is glowing it means stop. Right?"

He heaved a sigh. "Right."

"So everyone knows if the top light is on it means stop." She stated to be sure they were on the same page.

"Unless you're blind." He commented sarcastically.

Her lip twitched. "Unless I'm blind." She agreed. "But regardless of the blind issue everyone stops."

"Is this actually going somewhere? Because if you tell me that colorblind people are the same as the crazy ones in this situation I'm taking you back to your condo. We've already established they would also stop. I can see I need to find a better psychologist."

"I would rather be at my house. I don't see how that's an actual threat on your part." She lit up. "Actually forget the whole thing. Turn this machine around." She tapped the dashboard with her fist to emphasize her excitement over that possibility.

"You are coming with me to this interrogation."

"Then you have to let me finish. You can't just start a conversation with me and then try to stop it midway through."

He looked so put upon she nearly died laughing. "Fine."

She got back on topic. "So I'm colorblind."

"And soon I'll be deaf." He commented sarcastically. "Aren't we the pair?"

Her lip twitched. "That's so unfortunate for you. Anyway-" He rolled his eyes. "-how do I know I'm actually colorblind and you aren't lying to me about there being color?"

"You can't be serious."

"I'm totally serious. How do I know?"

"Because I'm telling you that the light is red."

"And I should believe you? I've known you for less than four months. Why should I trust that you aren't screwing with me?"

"Believe me, if we were screwing, you would know."

She sighed good-naturedly. The man never let an innuendo go, especially with her. It should bother her but all it did was amuse her. She was sure that was why he kept doing it. If she'd made the indication that it pissed her off he would have either stopped, or saved the remarks for special, brutal occasions. "Poor choice of words on my part. I see that now." He smirked and she reworded the question. "How would I know you were telling me the truth?"

"You could ask the people behind us."

"I don't know them either."

He came up with another option without pause. "Then your family or friends."

"But I'm a curious creature, ghost boy. Eventually I'll have to find out for myself. I'd have to be sure."

"And how would you do that?"

"Obviously I would run the light."

"Oh, that's brilliant. You would kill yourself."

"Or someone else." She agreed. "But even if I did you still can't prove to me the light was red. You can't prove to me I did anything wrong. You can't prove you weren't lying the whole time. To me the light was grey. Truth is perception. You're truth about that light will never be my truth about that light even if we're looking at the exact same thing."

He was quiet as he turned that over in his head. As they pulled into the garage he finally spoke. "That doesn't seem very satisfying to me."

She shrugged again. "I like puzzles. I like to work things out. For me it is satisfying. Is being a lawyer satisfying to you?"

His face closed off again. "Yes." That was a lie. As he parked and they got out of the car she wondered why he was bothering to do that, or why he was a lawyer if he didn't like it. He was smart enough to do anything he wanted. Why had he chosen this?


	5. Wreck: Month Six

Disclaimer: Not mine at all.

**5. Wreck- Month Six**

This had not been a good day. The case she, Joel, Fearless, four cops including Teresa, McNorris, three of his paralegals, and two of his interns had been working on for the better part of three months had fallen down around them like a card castle. Despite all their evidence, solid testimony, and reliable witnesses the DDA had put on the stand the defense had managed to find a loophole. They'd swayed the jury in the closing arguments and a killer had walked. She was pissed and frustrated. No one else took the loss much better. The DDA had taken the blow even more heavily as his well-crafted strategy was beaten to a pulp. She trailed him the moment she escaped the courthouse.

She banged on his front door loudly. It hadn't been hard to find the house. A single question to Joel had been all it took. The way he looked at her outside the courtroom after they lost, with those soulful brown eyes of his telling her he knew why she was hunting him down, had been enough for her to know that no questions were going to be asked about this in the morning. The detective had seen the same look in the DDA's face as she had. The one that said 'stupid is about to happen here'. She followed him to stop the stupid, or at least curb it in a way that wouldn't affect his life forever, because McNorris didn't do things by halves. If he was going to be dumb he was going to go all the way with it and really fuck up his life.

The last thing she needed to deal with was a new lawyer if he got himself fired or something. It took her six months to get the man to a place that he was even halfway trained. Sure, it would take her another solid six months of psychological warfare, trickery, manipulation, and playful feminine wiles to really have him under control, but she really didn't want to start all over with a person she knew nothing about. At least with him she pretty much knew what she was working with. "McNorris! Open up!"

There was no answer so she banged harder. She knew he was in there. He wasn't at his office and the gym that he frequented, the one Ray told her he'd tailed the man too on multiple occasions, was closed this time of night. The attorney needed a place to hole up and punish himself. Catholic guilt was an amazing thing. This was the only other place he had left to hide in and she was worried about the stupid thing. Why she was worried, because she acknowledged that this was real worry more than professional worry, was up in the air. She would think about that later when she had the time, like at three in the morning when she wasn't sleeping for the fifth night in a row. God she missed sleeping like a normal person. "McNorris! If you don't open this door I'll break a window! Right now!"

Seconds later and the door opened. McNorris was unkempt and aggravated. His normally pristine suit jacket was nowhere to be seen and his vest was hanging open. His tie was skewed to the side and his hair was ruffled up oddly, as if he'd run his hand through it one too many times. He glared and she figured his annoyance was now directed at her. "By all means make a scene. The neighbors don't have enough to talk about."

"We both know you don't talk to your neighbors." Before he could shoo her away in that polite way he had she darted under his arm and into his house.

He growled out a curse and she darted away from him as he made a grab at her. He missed as she twirled around and danced farther into the dark hall. "I did not invite you in." He growled.

Her eyes darted around the shadowed entryway. "What are you doing in here?"

"I live here."

Lie. She looked him over quickly. He was edgy. Well, edgy for him, which was to say so high strung he might snap like a rubber band at any moment. She could practically feel him toeing some sort of line. "Oh, I don't think living is on the top of your priority list right at this moment." His glare intensified and she glanced around. "What's going on?"

He leaned into his still open doorway casually. "Are you this irritating all the time or with me specifically?"

"You seem to need special attention." She crossed her arms. "If it makes you feel better I'm confidentiality bound."

"I'm not your patient." He pointed out unnecessarily.

"Like I would want you to be? You would be a nightmare of epic proportions." She shrugged. "On the other hand you would be a really steady income."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he sought patience. "Why are you here harassing me?"

"You don't have anyone else to do it. So-" She waved toward the interior of the house. "Here I am to harass you. Free of charge."

He narrowed his eyes. "No."

"No?"

"We aren't playing this game."

This was a game? She was lost and desperate to get on the same page he was. If she wasn't on the same page he would destroy her, soul first. "Game? What game?"

"Where you find things out about me and then blackmail me later."

She blinked at him before getting totally exasperated with him. She would think after this long she wasn't into political warfare. "Are you this paranoid all the time? I'm not going to blackmail you."

He clenched his jaw. The DDA wasn't buying her very honest answer. "Out."

"I can't leave. You're about to do something idiotic. I'm all involved."

He straightened up and slammed the door closed behind him. Her stomach began to bunch up with nerves. She had seen McNorris in action before, she had seen him snarling and barking, this was a new dimension of the man, one she had only imagined might be under the surface. She was hoping that imagining was only that but she had never been lucky. The man was dangerous right now, his self control warring with his much more basic instincts of self-preservation. Stalking up to her she held her ground and maintained eye contact as they competed for dominance. It was unfortunate that McNorris had the home team advantage. They were on his turf and it made him much more secure than her.

"You want to help me?" He said it like it was a challenge as opposed to a question.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to help you. You had a shit day. Now, tell me what's going on."

"I need a drink."

"Okay." She could most likely handle a drunken DDA. If not she could simply hit him over the head with something blunt and wait for the affects of the alcohol to wear off. She could always blame the pain of the concussion on his hangover should he ask. "Do you want shots or should I find your blender?"

He laughed raggedly. Moving forward he backed her against the wall and put his arms out on either side of her, pinning her with his larger frame. Being trapped like that was not a good thing for her but she forced her own fear down so she could deal with his. Only one of them could freak out at a time, she was aware enough of their dynamic to understand that, so for now she let it be him. Giving her a devil may care smile he gazed down at her. "You aren't going to be very helpful."

"Why? Don't you like margaritas?"

He groaned painfully and hit his fist slowly against the wall next to her head several times. "I like them too much."

"Too much?" She understood in an instant what he was saying. "You're an alcoholic?"

He visibly reacted to the word, to the concept she had associated with him. His body tightened and his jaw clenched. "Yes."

Well that explained a hell of a lot about him. She was studying him more closely now. He was showing signs of the compulsion to get a hit now that she was watching him. Part of him was craving something that he knew better than to get near. Everyone had demons. The DDA's appeared to come in liquid form. "How long have you been sober?"

The question seemed to tug him back toward sanity a little. "Two years, five months, four days."

That was impressive. Breaking an addiction was hard, crazy, major self control hard. Staying sober was even harder. McNorris was wavering under his loss. "You're closing in on your limit. How close did the trial push you?"

His eyes blazed into hers. "Farther than I've been in a long time."

"Did you drink anything?" That would be bad. He couldn't undo that.

A low whine came out of him before he spoke. "No, but I bought a bottle of whiskey."

"Where is it?" She asked at once.

He shook his head in an effort to clear it. "The kitchen."

Grabbing his wrist she pushed off the wall and dragged him toward the only light on in the entire house. Sure enough it was the kitchen. She saw the plain paper bag sitting on the counter and a broken glass on the floor against the far wall. She could only imagine he had hurled it across the room in frustrated rage. McNorris had been dangerously close to falling off the wagon. She was surprised he hadn't toppled off before she got to him. Letting his arm go she took the liquor out of the bag and twisted the top open. Tossing the cap on the counter she held the bottle toward the sink and stared him in the eye.

"Dump it." He didn't get any closer to her or the whiskey. She kept her voice calm so he would stay calm. "McNorris, why did you buy this?"

"I needed it." He answered mechanically.

"You haven't had any liquor in two years. You do _not_ need it. Why did you buy it?"

His eyes were fixated on the liquid. "I wanted something else to think about."

"You sure got that." She sighed. "What happened wasn't your fault. You did everything right."

"I lost."

"We all lose at some point. The case is over. You need to let it go."

His eyes strayed to her. "I should have done it differently. Now there's a killer out on the streets again."

Guilt and self-loathing were prominent in his voice. "You didn't kill anyone. I realize guilt was systematically built into your upbringing but you can't hold yourself responsible for what someone else did. All you can do is deal with your own actions." She shook the bottle slightly. "Now, you bought this to prove something to yourself." His eyes flashed in surprise. "Time to man up. Dump it."

Taking two steps forward he took the bottle from her and tipped it over his sink. She watched silently while it emptied. She wanted to be sure he didn't flip out with the drug so close to him. When the liquid had run down the drain she patted his arm. He let the bottle clatter into the bottom of the sink and let out a slow breath. He gave her a grudging nod. "Thank you."

"I didn't do anything. You're the one that got rid of it." She put her hands on the counter as she leaned back. "How bad is your body craving it?"

"It's bad."

"Let's go for a walk."

"Why?"

"Exercise can help. I realize it isn't boxing but it's too late for you to go to the gym and I would be a piss poor sparing partner. I can't box." Pushing herself off the counter she went to his fridge and opened the door. Spotting water bottles she grabbed two and headed to the door. She wanted him away from the smell. It should dissipate in an hour or so, but until then she wanted him out of the house. "Come on."

He followed her without a fight, and when they hit the sidewalk she handed him one of the waters. He took it, and after draining half of it seemed to calm slightly. She thought the fresh air might be helping as they turned a corner. "How did you know to come find me?" He asked.

"I saw the way you looked when you left."

"Why did you come?"

"You needed help."

"But why did _you_ come?"

She shrugged. "I knew you would let me in."

"I don't understand you."

"No one does. Don't worry about it." She was looking around at the houses as they talked. "This is a really nice neighborhood." Not that she expected anything less for hot shot David McNorris. He did like to have the best of things. He was all about status and a good neighborhood with a well-kept and expensive house sure gave him that. She spotted a gate down a branch of the sidewalk and tilted her head to see better as they approached it. Realizing what it was she smiled slightly and tugged on his sleeve to get him to turn with her. "Park."

"I can see that."

"Is it a good one?"

"I have no idea."

"Haven't you been in it?"

"No."

She sighed and opened the small gate. "It's two blocks from your house. Why haven't you walked through here?"

"Why would I?"

She threw out reasons at light speed. "For fun? Out of curiosity? Because you were bored? To meet people? To have a picnic? To stretch your legs?"

"I work. I don't have time to wander around at the slightest whim."

"You work too much. When do you meet your friends?"

"I don't."

She shook her head and flopped down on a nearby bench. He sat down next to her in a way that made it clear to her that he wasn't sure why he was here or how he had ended up in this situation. His awkward behavior was odd to her after having seen him smooze his way through so many social interactions. It took her about a second to categorize the difference. This wasn't work and right now she wasn't a co-worker. Right now she was someone who was helping him outside of a professional capacity. She was acting like a friend, not a colleague or acquaintance. "Do you have friends, ghost boy?"

For once he made no indication that the nickname bothered him. "The helpful kind."

"You mean the convenient kind."

"Is there a difference?" He took another drink.

"Yes, but either way that isn't what a friend is." She wondered if he knew what the word friend really meant or if that was yet something else he'd been denied or chased away from in childhood.

"Thank you for that." His snipped.

"No problem." She was finding sarcastic, on the edge McNorris to be pretty fun. Other than his near tumble into a spiraling drug addiction. "Why don't you?"

"Why don't I what?"

"Have friends. You're charismatic enough to attract them. At least when you're not being a smug bastard. What's the deal?"

"If you hadn't noticed, I'm rather self-involved."

She couldn't repress a laugh and he sighed in annoyance. Gaining control of herself she opened her water bottle. "Lots of narcissistic people have friends."

"Why are you pushing this?"

"I'm an intensely curious creature."

"If I answer will you leave me alone?" Leave it to him to try to negotiate his way away from her. She wasn't going to have any part of that.

"No." He rolled his eyes and clamped his mouth shut. She took a drink. "Sitting there pouting isn't going to make me go away either."

"Will anything?"

She considered that. "One thing, but I don't see how it's going to help you."

"What would make you leave?"

"A frog."

That had him turning his head to look at her. "What?"

"A frog." She repeated.

McNorris rubbed the bridge of his nose again. "Why would a frog make you leave?"

"I don't like frogs."

"She doesn't like frogs." He muttered to himself. "Crazy."

She smiled. "Not clinically so. If I was they would never let me council anyone."

"Mary mother of Jesus." He finished his water. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"The Midwest."

He glared at her when she answered his rhetorical question and she her smile turned impish. "I don't have friends because people have a tendency to run screaming in the opposite direction when they figure out what I am."

Interesting response. "What are you?"

"My father."

"That wasn't at all cryptic." She took another sip of water. "Should I get his address and go visit or are you going to decode that for me?"

A nasty, self-loathing smile filtered over his face. "My father is a horrible man. He was a fixer."

"What's a fixer?"

The DDA looked slightly ill for a second before his face went blank. "I can see you grew up in a better neighborhood than I did." She had no doubt about that. She made no effort to argue the point. "My father fixed other peoples problems. The kind of people the cops never quite manage to get thrown in jail."

"The kind of people that can't get pinned with anything." She clarified. "The smart ones."

"They aren't always smart. Sometimes they just have enough money to buy smart people's services. People that want money and lack moral."

"People like your father?"

"People exactly like my father."

She felt as if the last questions she had about McNorris were answered. He hated his father for what he'd done. For being a real honest to god bastard and not teaching his son how to be anything else. He hated him for that because McNorris, for all his flaws, was not a morally deficient person. His concepts and ideas about what the right and proper thing to do were relatively sound even if he did accept the system for what it was, flawed and often corrupt. Then again, if the lessons he'd been taught as a boy were anything like what she was imagining they were it was no wonder he traversed the courtroom and law offices with such ease. And him being a lawyer? Talk about a big middle finger to his old man. That was the punch he threw at his father. He hadn't had to use his fist at all.

"Does he drink too?"

"Always has something in his hand." He stared out at the park. "I hate him. He hurt people, including my mother and all of us, he drank, he swore, he cheated. I'm sure he still does."

"And you're him?"

"Here I sit."

This was silly. "But you stopped drinking." She let that sit out there for a few seconds so he could absorb it. "Seems to me like you're better than he is already. Addiction is a powerful thing. It takes a massive amount of will power to stop." She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. She had him worked out now. The twenty minutes had been more informative than a years worth of therapy sessions. "It's not the only thing you stopped doing either is it?"

"I don't see how that matters."

There was no point in him pretending to be dense. "Yes, you do."

"I've done horrible things."

"Why?"

"Because it got me what I wanted."

"So you wanted to become an adulterous alcoholic that hit his wife?"

He reared his head back. "I never hit Marian."

"Then how did it get you what you wanted? You're divorced and you still aren't the DA after being here for what? Five years now?" He opened his mouth then shut it. "Kinda fell through at the end then?"

"Yes."

"You're a smart man, McNorris. You're also sneaky as all hell. If you had really wanted whatever it is you were after you would have gotten it. If you were your father you wouldn't have worried about the fallout. Clearly, you did care because here you sit. In a park you didn't know was two blocks away from your house with a woman you barely know instead of your ex-wife. I don't think you need to worry about being your father. I think you need to worry about who the hell you are sitting on this bench. Once you work that out you won't need to buy another bottle of whiskey to see how strong you are."

He was quiet for a long time and she leaned into the bench and drank her water as her eyes glided over the playground in the center of the large grass square. The sun had started to set when he spoke again. "You're still here."

"You didn't produce a frog. I saw no reason to run screaming away from you."

He huffed out a laugh. "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat."

"There's a little family owned Greek restaurant about five minutes away. Do you want to go?"

"Do they have baklava?"

He glanced at her in bemusement. "Yes."

"Are you ready to get off the bench?"

"I might need to come back later."

She patted his shoulder. "That's the nice thing about benches. They can't run off on you."


	6. Ailing: Month Eight

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**6. Ailing- Month Eight**

Wiping her forehead with the back of her hand she gazed into the interrogation room as Fearless finished up. They hadn't really needed her, thank god. She wasn't sure how helpful she could be right now. She leaned heavily against the wall next to the window, thinking about leaving an hour early. It wasn't normal for her at all but she wasn't healthy. She hated getting sick. She'd rather run herself into the ground working then get a cold, and unfortunately, this was a pretty nasty one. No amount of vitamins, orange juice, or anti-bacterial hand soap could protect her forever. Not with the people she was constantly in contact with. It had only been a matter of time before her immune system gave out on her.

She closed her eyes for a second before a voice interrupted her moment of quiet. "Are they paying you to sleep now?"

She jerked upright. "What?" Not her normal witty come back. She glanced blearily over at the DDA. "Do you need something?"

He looked her over critically as he stopped shuffling through papers. "Are you all right?"

"I think I caught a cold." She stated rather vaguely, her mind going spacey as she lost focus.

"A cold?" He didn't believe her. "You look like death warmed over."

"You know I've actually seen that. I was at an autopsy yesterday. I don't think it's possible for me to look that bad."

"Uh huh." He indicated a few papers he set down on the battered table and she went over to him lethargically. "I need these signed. They're on the Garber case."

"Okay." She read them over as best she could, thankful she recognized the paperwork, and signed where he pointed. "Is that it?"

"I don't think you could handle anything else at this point. Go home."

"Okay."

"Okay? You're not going to argue with me?"

"No. Have a nice night." With that she abandoned the interrogation room, locked up her office, and left. She somehow managed to drive herself home without crashing. She also managed to shower and change before she started to throw up everything she had eaten for the last five days which she found terribly unfair considering most of that should have been digested at this point.

But this was obviously not her night because the vomiting jag lasted for a while. At some point she stabilized enough to crawl in her bed and pass out before her stomach woke her up again a few hours later. Giving up on her bedroom entirely she dizzily pulled a towel out from her small bathroom closet and used it as a pillow after she puked her guts out a second time. Cursing all bacteria, which she admitted was unreasonable since many of them were extremely helpful and vital to human survival, she fell asleep on the tile floor. What followed was a cycle of illness and sleep that she lost track of. Hell, she wasn't even bothering to keep track.

Reaching up blindly for what had to be the twentieth time, she found the handle on the toilet and flushed. There was no way she could go into work today, she knew it was nearly time to go because there was sunlight filtering in the window. She wasn't even sure she could drag her way to her phone to call in and tell the captain that. It was bad planning on her part to have left it plug in and resting on her dresser. As she thought that she felt her nausea rise and gagged over the toilet. Coughing, she flushed again and let herself lay back on the cool tile. She was in one of her few low backed tank tops and her short shorts. She was so hot. She pressed her back over the tile. At least her floor was clean and cool. That was the last thing she thought before she fell into sweet oblivion again.

She woke up once, briefly, when she heard her phone ring. Deciding she didn't care she closed her eyes and fell asleep again. The next thing she knew someone was patting her face. "Darcy." She groaned and turned her head away. "No, Darcy. Wake up."

"Go away, McNorris. Don't you bother me enough at work?"

"Open your eyes and I'll consider leaving."

"Which means no." She hated the DDA even if she didn't really hate him, or even dislike him anymore. She wasn't sure that even made sense. "Did you break into my house?"

Another voice rumbled through the room. "Actually I did."

Oh good, more people were in her bathroom with her. This was supposed to a private space… In her locked house. "It makes me feel so much better that a cop broke in, Tom." Thank god her back was against the floor. It was bad enough McNorris knew something was wrong with her. She didn't need the cop sniffing around too.

"We needed to make sure you were alive."

She whimpered and bated at McNorris weakly in an effort to make him leave. "I am. Now leave me alone so I can die."

"I've got her." The attorney said as he somehow claimed both her and her condo as his territory to deal with.

"No." She squinted her eyes open. "I want the other one." She waved her hand weakly. Tom, at least, wouldn't use this opportunity to help as a way to bribe her later. "The one with the shiny badge."

Tom laughed. "She can't be that sick. She still knows she doesn't like you, McNorris. Feel better, Darcy. I have a call I have to go to. I'm sure you and the DDA will get on fine."

God damn it. Tom would pay for this. She heard footsteps receding, and abandoning her to the care of ghost boy as McNorris set his hand on her forehead. She tried to flinch away but he caught her and held her still with his other hand. "You're burning up." She didn't say anything. It took too much energy. "We need to get you to a doctor."

"I'm a doctor. All set."

"No, a medical doctor, smart ass." He slid his hand under her shoulders. "Can you sit up?"

She whined pathetically. "Please, McNorris, I don't feel good. Just let me lay here. It's cool."

His voice softened. "I know, Darcy. I promise you can sleep for as long as you want after you see a doctor."

She fussed, but tried to help him get her up. She didn't do very well. It was a good thing he was as strong as he was because she was flopping about like a landed fish. He helped her upright with surprising gentle hand and let her lean against his chest as the room swayed around her. She clutched at his arm as she tried to get the room to stop rocking. When it didn't she made a grab at the toilet and he helped her lean to it fast enough for her to gag over it. When nothing came up but some yellowish-green bile he made a worried sound.

"Next time you tell me you don't feel well I'm taking you straight to the hospital." She simply sat still and trembled all over. He brushed her hair back before wrapping his arms around her waist. "We're going to get up. Ready?"

"Yeah." She curled her legs under her and at his three count she shoved up. She managed to lock her knees but was forced to lean against him so she wouldn't topple to the side. He helped her stumble into her bedroom and set her down on the bed. He held her by the arms to be sure she wasn't going to slump off the side, then went to her dresser. She was too sick to care what he was doing. It was taking all her concentration to maintain her balance. He came back to her with a t-shirt and a pair of her running pants. He helped her tug the shirt on over the tank top and she grabbed the pants. "Turn around."

"I have to tell you those bottoms aren't much bigger than whatever underwear you have under them."

"I'm hot."

"I know." He took the pants back. "I promise not to mention this again, to anyone, but if you try to get these on by yourself you'll fall over and kill yourself. Let me help."

This was the worst day she'd had in a long time. "Fine." She tried to console herself with the information she had on McNorris. It made her feel slightly better as he helped her out of her shorts and into the pants. She was also rather thankful she had on a cute pair of panties that also covered her ass. And that she had shaved her legs right before she got sick.

"Where's your doctor at?"

"Can you just take me to the emergency room? I need an IV."

"What?"

"I'm dehydrated. The doctor would send me there anyway."

"Okay." He held onto her waist as they started toward her door.

"I need my purse. It has my insurance card in it."

"I'll get it after I have you in the car. Are you going to get sick again?"

"I'll try not to ruin your upholstery." She managed to snip.

"That's not what I meant." He shoved the front door open and dragged her to the passenger side of his car with relative ease. "I was going to get you something to gag into."

"That's an attractive sentence."

He shook his head and she buckled herself in as he shut the door and vanished into the house. She let her head fall back and shut her eyes. She decided to focus on breathing. It seemed like the right thing to do. When he came back he had her purse, a mixing bowl, and a pair of her flip-flops. Ah, shoes. Good call. He set the bowl in her lap and she sighed.

He started the car and she drifted off into lala land. He didn't bother her as they went. She thought he probably wanted her to refrain from gagging while they were in his fancy car. As he drove he flipped his cell phone open and hit a number on speed dial. Someone must have picked up because he started talking. "Cancel my appointments for the rest of the day and reschedule my meeting." A pause. "No." Another pause. "Give that to Davis. Why would I have it in the first place?" Pause. "No." His voice was harder. "Do I need to hire a new assistant?" Pause. "That's what I thought." He snapped the phone shut.

"You know you can just drop me off."

"How would you get home?"

"A taxi."

He rolled his eyes. "I thought you said I should consider working less." That was true. She was trying to get him into some sort of relaxing activity, one that didn't involve him getting beaten to a pulp, in the hopes it would leak over into his work, or at least when he was working with her. She didn't much care about how he acted at his own office as long as he was pleasant to her. Everyone else was on their own.

"I didn't mean so you could sit in an emergency room while my fluids are replaced. I meant in a pleasant and carefree manner. You could go on vacation or something. Maybe catch a movie now and then if you aren't feeling as adventurous as a weekend trip to the mountains."

"Darcy, shut up."

"Why are you being mean to me?" She didn't have the energy or motivation to keep up with him and that had been hurtful. It didn't help that her throat was raw after her night throwing up. She sounded pathetic. "I didn't mean to get sick and I didn't ask you to come over."

He glanced at her with obvious remorse. "I'm sorry." She turned her head away and stared out the window. She felt his fingers tuck some of her hair behind her ear in a kind of physical apology. McNorris said a lot more with body language then with his mouth when the situation became any more personal than a working situation. "I didn't mean to snap. You had me worried."

"Why?" Why would he be worried about her of all people?

"You didn't show up for work and you didn't answer your phone. You've never been late to anything, or avoided a call from Fearless or Hicks. This is L.A. I thought someone had mugged you and left you in an alley to die." That made her laugh. Her shoulders shook and she put her hand over her face as the short burst faded away. "How is that funny?"

"It's not." She leaned her head into her hand. "Sorry. I wasn't laughing at you. Thank you for coming to make sure I was okay and taking me to the hospital. It's really nice of you."

He was watching her as they sat at a stoplight. "What were you laughing at?"

"Irony." Because only she would see that as a fairly good way to die after what had happened to her. At least it would be quick. "Never mind."

"I'll leave that alone since you don't feel good."

"I appreciate that." He pulled into the hospital a minute later. An orderly hustled her inside and McNorris drove off to park his car. She managed to get to the front of the line and pick up the paperwork she would need to fill out while answering the nurse's questions. At least the waiting room wasn't that full. Apparently not much went on Tuesday mornings. She retreated to a chair in the back corner and collapsed into it. Curling her legs up she started filling out the paperwork. She was about halfway through a long series of questions when David spotted her and sat down beside her.

She finished as quickly as she could and when she started to move he took the clipboard from her. "I've got it." He stood up and gave the nurse her information after pointing to her.

He sat down again and she felt bad for making him come here. He had better things to do with his time than miss work because she got sick. She wasn't his responsibility. "You really don't have to stay here."

"It's fine. You worry too much."

"I what?"

"Worry too much." He sat forward and took his jacket off. Leaning forward he laid it over her as she sat with her legs pulled up to her chest. She was finding it was easier to maintain her balance like this. She blinked at him in surprise as the fabric settled over her warmly in the cool room. "This might take awhile. Try to sleep."

Fine. She didn't care anymore. Shifting, she let her head rest against the wall and shut her eyes. He went quiet and still and she wondered why he was being so sweet to her. Then she decided she could worry about the implications at a different time because it was too late to make him take the niceness back so she might as well take advantage. She was sure he would make her pay for it later regardless of how much she let it make her feel better. She must have fallen asleep again because he shook her awake and she jerked up, nearly toppling out of her chair. "Graceful aren't you?" He asked. She rolled her eyes before a nurse ushered her toward a door. With a smirk he got up and followed her.

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Three hours later and the car stopped. Her eyes fluttered open and she was grateful to be back home. It took her a few seconds longer to work the scene out than it should have. "This isn't my house." She accused.

"No, it's mine." They were in the garage. "I would think you would recognize it after threatening to break all my windows."

She didn't dignify that with a response. She pushed forward with her own agenda. "Why are we at your house?"

"So I can make sure you live through the night."

"You can't be serious."

"I have a spare bedroom you're sleeping in. That way I can check on you." He said this in a way that told her he didn't expect this to be a problem for her, as if she would simply accept this as the most rational and well thought out decision. Never mind that she wanted to be at her own condo with her own things, a place that should be a lawyer free zone.

She rubbed at her face thinking she might be having another one of her nightmares and it would wake her up. When it didn't she found herself more curious about why he brought her here than her own comfort. "Why? Just… just why? Explain this. Explain why we are here."

"Because it'll make me feel better. Will that get you inside?"

You know what? Whatever. "I guess, but I'm labeling this kidnapping if anyone asks."

"Whatever you want." He got out, taking her purse, and she opened her door. She felt a little better after the IV but only just. He grabbed her when she was in front of the car and helped her through the garage door and toward what she could only assume was the promised spare room. Sure enough he flipped on a light and she spotted a queen sized bed with a blue comforter over it. He flipped the blanket down and set her on the sheets. Putting her purse on a dresser he pulled a bottle of pills out of his jacket pocket and read the instructions. "I'll go get you water to take these with. You need two every eight hours."

She reached for the pills and he handed them to her before he left. She read the label and realized she should have gone to the hospital a lot sooner. McNorris came back with a full glass of ice water to find her frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. These are really strong anti-biotics. I didn't think I was this sick."

"Did you look in the mirror?"

"No, I was a little distracted throwing up this morning."

"You look that sick. Take the pills. I think I promised you could sleep."

He had and she was tired. Opening the bottle she shook two into her hand and McNorris traded her the pills for the water. Swallowing them she drank as much of the water as she could and handed the glass to him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Go to sleep. When you wake up I'm making you drink a gallon of Gatorade."

"That sounds fun."

"A lot more fun than you dying." When he saw her laying down he headed to the door. Flipping the light off he turned to look at her. "If you need anything let me know. The bathroom is one door to the left."

"All right." She paused for a second before saying what she had to say. "Thank you for helping me today."

"I think it was my turn." With that he pulled the door nearly closed. She tugged the blankets over her shoulders and closed her eyes. It didn't bother her that this was a strange place to sleep for now. All that mattered was that it was warm and safe. She was asleep again in a few minutes.

Author Note: I realize this isn't that popular a show so I really appreciate the reviews you guys are throwing my way! Thanks girls!


	7. Careening: Month Nine

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**7. Careen -Month Nine**

Jogging down the block she tried to banish the memories assaulting her. Running tended to help her rid herself her nightmares. It was actually the only thing that helped that didn't involve something a doctor would prescribe. She'd rather stay away from prescription drugs from here on out, the last time she'd had any interaction with them, other than her anti-biotics, it hadn't gone so well. Since she didn't want to deal with near addiction, or worse total addiction, she'd stick to running even if it was five in the morning.

When all she could focus on were her burning lungs and straining muscles it was easier to stop thinking. No nightmares, no past, no scars on her back, or an empty bed. She wasn't alone in a big city, hell, she wasn't alone at all. All there was for her were her shoes hitting the pavement that kept leading off in front of her. Things were better when she was running. Run. She repeated that in her head over and over again. Run. That's all there was. That was all she was. Running.

That helpful mantra was ended with a sudden and painful abruptness. She turned a corner and a man jumped her in a blur of fabric and flailing limbs. She shrieked as he tackled her and they rolled to the unforgiving ground. He snarled wordlessly as he fell over her. Her face and knees slammed into the pavement as her adrenaline shot up. Twisting hard, she elbowed him in the ribs and used her momentum to throw him off of her. He howled far louder than he should have at the hit before coming at her again.

Rolling to the side helped her avoid the large majority of his body weight as he tried to pin her. When he tried to get up to come at her again she spun and hit him across the jaw with the heel of her right foot. He fell back and she sprang to her feet. He was up in an instant and swinging wildly at her. He had no control at all.

Ducking under his fists, she got in a hard shot to his sternum and he grunted as he staggered back. She didn't give him a chance to attack her again, or to run. If he wanted to jump a young woman then he was freaking going to deal with her. No one just attacked her without consequences. At that moment she would admit her temper may have gotten the better of her common sense, but she was so pissed off she didn't care. Her fight or flight response was so heavily weighted toward fighting that it didn't even occur to her that running and screaming in the opposite direction might be a better idea. She punched the man hard across the temple and he fell to the ground. Moving fast, the way she had been taught, she grabbed his hair and smacked his head into the cement as hard as she could. He went limp as she knocked him out with the help of the sidewalk and she fell away from him panting.

Taking a second to compose herself she looked at the man. He was dirty and his clothes were stained and frayed around the edges. He had dark brown hair and was pretty slim considering how tall he was. She squinted and tilted her head to the side as she took his facial features in more closely. He looked a whole lot like the guy the detectives were looking for, the one that kept lurking in parks and scaring the crap out of joggers. Jesus Christ. Was there, like, a sign on her that said open to attack? How many freaking joggers were there in this city? Why did the crazy have to find her? Really, what were the odds? Grumbling, she reached to her side and unclipped her cell phone from the top of her pants. She found it hadn't broken in the fight. She was grateful for that as she called Fearless.

Two rings later and the detective picked up. She heard chatter in the background and realized he was at the department. She wasn't sure why he was there so early, then realized that was a good thing because she really should have called dispatch instead of him. That would have been smarter, but she was still addled from the tussle. "Bobby Smith."

"Fearless? It's Darcy."

"You're up early. What's going on, sweetness?" She heard him say something to who she could only assume was his partner. She wasn't sure either of them spent more than eight hours a day away from each other, just enough time to sleep. The two were attached at the hip.

"Yeah, so that person you guys are after? The park guy? What are you calling him?"

"'The one that leaps without looking'. What about him?"

"He's got dark hair? Six foot three and dirty?"

"Brown eyes." She reached over and lifted one of his lids. Yup. "What about him?"

"I just knocked him out."

"You're going to have to repeat that."

"I just knocked him out. He jumped out at me when I was running." He was still motionless, but she wasn't sure how long he was going to stay that way. "Could you maybe come throw him in jail before he wakes up and I have to do it again?"

There was a short pause. "Where are you?"

She looked up at the street signs. "Shore and Kent. About three blocks from my house."

Fearless started shouting at the bullpen and she held the phone away slightly. Even with it several inches away from her face she could hear the bullpen erupt with noise. Then the detective was talking to her again. "Are you hurt?"

"Not especially so." She looked at her knee. There was blood all over her pant leg, though it wasn't much more than a scratch. "I might need a bandage. I scraped my knee." She looked back at the unconscious man. "But I hit the guy's head pretty hard. He might need the paramedics."

"Darcy?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a little bit crazy aren't you?"

"A little bit. I'm also kinda freaked out at the moment. Seriously. Could you hurry?"

"Tom and Ray will be there in less than two minutes. You just hang tight, and if he as much as twitches kick him in the head."

"Okay, but I swear if he moves I can't promise he'll be breathing when you get her."

"Understood, I'll stay on with you until they're there." The detective said that like he understood, but she really didn't think he did. The unconscious man before her better pray he stayed that way for at least the next ten minutes or he really wasn't going to make it.

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Putting the ice pack that had been pressed to her face down on her desk, she logged onto the network and typed in her attacker's name. Conveniently, he had both an ID and a bottle of pills with a matching name and date of birth. The computer loaded a minute later and she scrolled down his information. Sure enough this hadn't been the first time the man had been brought in. Reading his information she sighed as her hunch was confirmed. He wasn't psychologically stable. No family for her to call, but his psychiatrist was listed. Yippy, a member of her own tribe for her to contact.

Picking up her phone she put the ice pack on her bruised face with one hand while she held the receiver in the other. Three rings later and a woman picked up. "Law Office of Hirsh and Wisnton. How can I direct your call?"

Law office? She was talking to whoever inputted this data when this was over. She wasn't in the mood to hunt down a psychiatrist via the yellow pages. "I'm trying to get in touch with Dr. Michael Hirsh. Do I have the right number?"

"You do. What's this regarding?"

That made life easier, nix attacking data entry clerks. "My name's Darcy Fox. I work at the L.A. police department. One of his patients was arrested about an hour ago. I need to speak with him."

"Hold please."

While she waited she decided she needed some aspirin, aspirin she would take on rare occasions, such as when she had a full facial contusion. This was ridiculous. She was sure her face was black and blue and she could feel her eye swelling up. She hated fighting. She also hated this hold music that was going on in her right ear. Luckily, she didn't have to listen to it for that long. A calm and soothing voice broke over the line. "This is Michael Hirsh."

"The doctor or the lawyer?"

"Both."

And she thought she was a shinning example of an overachiever. "Do you know a Timothy Gram? You're listed as his emergency contact."

"He's one of my patients."

"Good. He's in the interrogation room at the L.A. police department, precinct twenty-three. I would strongly suggest you get down here as soon as you can before he gets thrown in jail."

There was shuffling in the background, the sound of papers being shoved out of the way. "May I ask why?"

"My best guess is that he went off his medication." She leaned back and readjusted her ice pack. "He's been attacking runners in parks for the last few weeks. You may have read about it in the paper. The police caught him this morning."

A pause. "Did he have his medication with him?"

"Yeah, he did." Dropping the ice she picked up the bottle and stared at it. "It was filled last month but only one of the pills is gone. They probably made him sick to his stomach and he couldn't eat. When he stopped taking them his disorder took over again."

"He told you that?"

The man hadn't said a word to her. He was too busy being knocked out cold, taken to the hospital to be checked, then getting dragged back here under guard. No one was real pleased she'd been attacked. It gave her the warm fuzzies inside to know she was loved. "No, about a third of people who take this medication have serious digestive problems."

"I'm sorry, who am I talking to?"

"Doctor Darcy Fox. I'm the psychologist at the department."

"When did you start?"

"About nine months ago."

"I see. Thank you for calling. I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"All right. I'll make sure he's left alone until then."

She hung up and opened her bottom drawer. Seeing a bottle of painkillers she popped the top and downed two of them without water. Not the best idea but whatever. Putting her head on her desk, uninjured side down, she put the ice on and laid there for a few minutes. The throbbing had barely begun to fade away when she heard the DDA snipping. Now her day was complete.

Standing up with her ice pack in hand she opened her office door and took in the scene. McNorris was grumbling at the detective for getting him up so early. She was less than sympathetic. "So where is he?" He took a sip of his coffee. "Let's get this done."

"You can't talk to him, McNorris." She plopped down in the closest chair and stretched her legs out as he snarked at her.

"I'm tired of you interfering with my job, Fox." He took a swig of his coffee. "Where's the-" He dropped that sentence as he turned to look at her fully. His eyes flashed blue fire. "What the hell happened to you?"

Admittedly, she wasn't at her best in her sneakers, jogging pants, and a fitted black t-shirt, but really. She supposed the massive bruise on her face, her bloody knee, and her less than attractive headband that was making her hair stick out oddly weren't really helping the situation. "The commute was murder this morning."

"The perp decided to go after Darcy while she was running." Fearless supplied as he typed away at his report. Joel simply sat there staring into his mug. He looked like he hadn't slept in days. He also looked like he wasn't listening. She needed to talk to the detective. He had been acting this way for a couple of days now. Something was going on that had him distracted.

"He attacked you?"

"If by attacked, you mean she kicked his ass, then yeah, that's what happened." Ray had wandered over when he saw her come out. The cop enjoyed watching her fight with the DDA. She figured it was like a cage match for him.

"What?" McNorris was snarling again.

"She was like Buffy. Except with no vampires and a real dangerous man." Ray grinned out.

She snorted out a laugh. "You watched Buffy? God, you're such a dork, Ray."

His eyes sparkled. "What was your favorite episode?"

She smiled back. "The musical, hands down no contest."

"I should have known. You were a drama geek in high school weren't you?"

"You say geek, I say awesome."

Ray opened his mouth to say something when the DDA cut in again. "What were you doing running through a park?"

She raised an eyebrow as she put the ice over her face. "It's not actually illegal to run in a public venue."

"No, just incredibly stupid with a killer on the loose!" His voice raised, which only had hers raising in return.

"Oh, unbunch your panties! I wasn't anywhere near the parks he's been frequenting! I was three blocks from my house running on the sidewalk!"

He rolled his eyes and his demeanor went from angry to disinterested. "If you want to get yourself murdered that's your business. Since you managed to make it to six am, file your report so I can press charges."

She leaned back and moved the ice pack around as he opened his briefcase. "I'm not pressing charges."

"Excuse me?" He slammed the briefcase shut.

She said it more slowly and with fewer words so he would understand. "Me no pressy charges. DDA waste time."

"He tried to kill you!" His voice snapped over her as his temper flared back up.

"Yes, thank you. Unlike you, I was actually there when the incident occurred."

"What's the matter with you?" He turned his icy glare to Joel. "Does she have a concussion?"

"I don't have a concussion! The guy's got a mental disorder. He wasn't intentionally trying to hurt me. It just happened."

"It just happened? You've been attacked and you think it _just happened_?"

"Pretty much."

He pointed at her face. "Don't you dare try to rationalize that bruise on your face as anything other than a brutal attack in that crazy mind of yours!"

"Don't get dramatic, ghost boy." She waved toward her office. "His medication is in my office and his psychiatrist is on the way. He should be here any second. I'm sure he can explain what's going on in terms even you can understand."

"What's going on is you being even more idiotic than you usually are!"

"You know, just because you can't prosecute doesn't mean I'm being an idiot! Believe it or not the entire universe does not revolve around getting yourself in the limelight! That man in there needs help! He doesn't need to be thrown in prison where he'll get abused and turned into someone's bitch because he's sick! That isn't his fault!"

McNorris slammed his hand over the desk in front of her. "He should have stayed on his medication then!"

"It was making him sick!"

Blue eyes were flashing and they were both revving up to have an all out smack down in front of everyone, which still hadn't happened, they only had shouting matches in private, when a new voice interrupted them. "McNorris, in fine form today I see."

The attorney's head whipped around to look at a man about his age with black curly hair and kind eyes. He tensed all over and turned to her again. "You called Hirsh?" His rage went to a whole new level and hers dwindled down as confusion set in.

Feeling like she somehow did something wrong where McNorris was involved, which was something she hadn't wanted to do, she shrugged. "He's Gram's psychiatrist."

The DDA's jaw ticked. "We aren't done here, Fox."

She tried to blow his rage away. "Bum bum bum!" He ignored her sound effects and stalked off to the interrogation room as he flipped his cell phone open. Shaking her head she sat up straight and held her hand out to Hirsh. "Nice to meet you, I'm Darcy."

He shook her hand firmly. "You didn't mention you were the one he attacked."

"Didn't seem to make much of a difference over the phone." The other men nodded to him and she figured they were all acquainted.

"Has he said anything?" Hirsch asked her.

"I don't know. You'll have to ask them." Joel stood up to take him to Gram and she glanced over at Ray. "Could you take me home so I can change?"

"Sure." Good, she'd feel silly at her meetings in this outfit.

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There was a loud banging on her door ten minutes after she got home for the day. Rolling her eyes, because only McNorris could make knocking rude, she went to the door and opened it. Sure enough he was standing there being McNorris. "Can I help you?" She asked pleasantly.

"Let me in." He demanded.

"No."

His jaw ticked at her firm denial. "Let me in."

She raised her eyebrow at him. "No."

"Fox, I swear by all that is holy, if you don't let me in I'll make your life miserable."

She huffed in amusement and crossed her arms as she leaned in the doorway. "How are you going to do that?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"To gloat." He narrowed his eyes and she simply stared at him. After a moment she twisted her wrist and looked at her watch. "How long are you going to be standing out here?"

"Why? Going to time me?"

"Nope, going to turn the porch light on. It'll be dark in about twenty minutes." With that she stepped back, shut the door, and flipped the porch light on. She heard him growl and simply walked away. She was hungry and he could stay out there as long as he wanted. She was digging out ingredients when he walked into her kitchen even more miffed than he had been before. She raised and eyebrow at him as she dug out a pan. "That's called breaking and entering you know. Are you going to make me call the fuzz?"

He smacked his hand on the counter angrily, which had absolutely no effect on her. She started filling the pan with water as she hummed a tune under her breath. Clearly irked that she wasn't paying him any attention he started snarling. She was unimpressed with the grown up version of a temper tantrum. "Are you completely insane? What's the matter with you? You've been attacked by a crazy person and you're acting like nothing out of the ordinary happened!"

"Okay."

"Okay? What the hell does that mean?" He was shouting. "You are driving me out of my mind!" His hand waved erratically. "You're irresponsible on your best days and down right reckless the rest of the time!"

She turned the stove on and set the pan over it to start to boil. "Why do you care? I thought you didn't like me."

"I don't like you!"

She tossed some carrots and potatoes on the counter and got out a cutting board. She thought a simple stew would be lovely. She was starving. "Then why are you here yelling at me?"

"Because you are making my life difficult! It has to stop!"

"Ghost boy, I'm pretty sure I helped you win three cases just this week. In what way am I making your life difficult?"

"Don't turn this around on me!"

She tried not to laugh. "Rough being on the other side of that isn't it?" She pulled a knife out of the block and started chopping. "Do you want dinner?"

"No, I don't want dinner!" He exploded. "I want you to stop!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop acting this way!"

She set the knife down and looked at him over the counter. "What way? What way am I acting that has you so tied up in knots?"

"You're…" She raised an eyebrow when he stuttered to a halt. "You're impossible!"

"I'm impossible?" She shook her head. "Okay, I'm the impossible one. I'm not the one fuming as he stands in denial of the situation."

"I am not in denial!"

"You're worried about me."

"Hardly."

"Because I matter to you."

"You don't matter."

"Then why are you here? Why did you come find me when I was sick? Why do you kidnap me to go out to lunch at least three times a week?" He glared at her. She waited for the answer patiently. He snarled at nothing in particular and she took pity on him. There was no point in pushing him any farther; he would only shut down on her. He had been without friendship for way too long, there was no reason to make this hard on him. "So, do you want dinner?"

"I don't want anything from you."

She sighed. "McNorris, why are you fighting this so hard? You're only upsetting yourself. We're social creatures. It's embedded in our biological makeup. People like to be with other people. Some of us are more picky than others, but at the end of the day we still want someone to talk to." She picked up her knife and started chopping again. "God knows I miss it." She pointed to the stool across from her. "So sit down and tell me about your day. Then I'll tell you about mine."

"And then what?"

"Then we'll eat and you can go home and go to bed."

"You know that isn't what I meant." He snapped.

She moved on to another vegetable. "What do you want me to say? What has you freaking out on me here?"

"How does this end in your mind?"

"End?" She looked up from her preparations. "I don't understand."

"What do you want from me?" She was startled by the question but he kept going. "Information? Sex? Flowers? Jewelry? Some sort of deal? A bargaining chip? What? I don't understand what you want!"

"McNorris, all I want is to hang out. I don't want anything from you but your company. That's it. I want someone to talk to. I make enough money to get everything I need to survive and then some to do what I want with. I'm smarter than you. I don't need help in some sort of political play. Anything I want to know I could find out by myself. And I'm not interested in an affair. Believe it or not you're not the only one that gets lonely and wants someone as smart as they are to talk to."

Slowly, he pulled the stool out and sat down. "Where did you learn to fight like that? You said you would be a bad sparring partner."

"I said I would be a bad boxing sparring partner. I don't know how to box."

"You know how to fight." He pushed.

She sighed knowing this was more than an idle question. He was testing her for sincerity, as if knowing that would mean she was being serious about this. That didn't mean she was going to tell him. "Questions like this require a certain amount of trust for me to answer. We aren't at that point yet." She eyed him and he reluctantly nodded in acceptance. She changed the subject. "Anything interesting happen to you today?"

"Other than dealing with you and Hirsh?"

Her lip twitched up. "Yes. Other than that."

"I got to explain to my boss why the man that attacked you and five other women was getting a psychiatrist to defend him in court."

"That's rough." She finished with the carrots and started on the potatoes.

"The rough part, as you so charmingly put it, was explaining to him why I was still working with you."

"How did you explain yourself?"

"I told him you were good in bed."

She raised her eyebrow. "That better be a joke."

His lip curled up. "And if it wasn't?"

"I kill you." She said without missing a beat. "Slowly and painfully."

"Should I have told him you were bad in bed?"

She rolled her eyes as she dumped the carrots in the pot. "It's a pity you'll never know which lie is more true than the other."

He barked out a short laugh. "I'm sure you're good in bed. No one that can knock a man out cold could be bad."

"I don't even want to know what your logic behind that is." He opened his mouth and she held up here hand. "Ghost boy, I really mean that." He smirked and she went back to chopping. The rest of their evening was actually pretty fun, and when he left he went away more relaxed then she had ever seen him.

Author Note: Yay! New chapter! I may not update until after Thanksgiving because it's that time of year to hang out with family and I'm going out of town. I hope everyone has a great holiday! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!


	8. Estranged: Month Ten

Disclaimer: Boomtown is not my property.

**8. Estranged- Month Ten**

Spearing her salad with a plastic fork McNorris had in one of his desk drawers she rolled her ankle as it rested in the chair she had her legs propped on. It popped several times and she felt a little better as it loosened. Maybe she should take her shoes off. That might make her a lot more comfortable. Usually when she started to get irritated, or feeling like she was trapped, getting something off helped. It made her more comfortable, and as a result she relaxed. Her shoes would be a safer bet than anything else considering the setting. She figured taking anything else off in the DDA's office might give off the wrong signals to both McNorris and the rest of the office staff who were already suspicious of both her ability to out weasel them and her apparent preference for their reclusive and rather mean co-worker.

After the talk they'd had about friendship she made no secret that the two of them were hanging out. Any backing out, or pretending that they weren't solid, would have sent the man into a hasty, and most likely explosive retreat. Since she didn't want to scare McNorris off at such a fragile time for him she remained calm and acted like any other two people that hung out. The other lawyers and paralegals who worked with McNorris found this… odd. Most of them thought they were sleeping together, the rest thought they were plotting to overthrow the world or something. She was starting to wonder if all of L.A. was this paranoid or if it was simply centralized where she worked.

Speaking of places she worked, she was tired of being in the lawyer's office, no matter how spiffy the view was. She was tired of this case, and to be perfectly honest she was tired of eating out. After a second she was surprised McNorris wasn't on the things she was tired of list. Actually, she was grudgingly impressed with him. He worked his ass off. She appreciated that in a person, someone who did their job and did it right. It was surprisingly hard to come by.

"What are you thinking?" He asked as he sifted through daunting pile of legal forms.

She swallowed her nearly masticated lettuce so she could answer. "What?"

"That little line between your forehead appeared. You only do that when you're thinking about something that annoys you."

"This whole case annoys me."

"And you're making your meal pay for it?"

She shrugged. "I'm eating it anyway. I might as well work off some frustration."

"I see." She sighed at nothing in particular. He set his pen down and rubbed his temple. He looked like he had a tension headache. She sympathized with that. "I know why I hate this case. Why do you?"

"Because this guy is a disgustingly clever."

"I think Joel and Fearless established that when they interrogated him." McNorris sighed. "Not that I did much better."

"And that doesn't alarm you?" Not that she was trying to inflate his already oversized ego, but really, he was very good at running people in circles. One of them should have gotten something out of the weasel when she could feel guilt vibes rolling off the man in waves. She picked at her salad in an attempt to get rid of the tomatoes and distract herself from her frustration.

McNorris didn't seem as bothered by this as her. She couldn't decide if it was because he'd been in this situation more times than her, having professionally worked with criminals for at least eight years longer, or if it was because he couldn't feel the vibrations the way she could. Not that she blamed him, she was weird that way and she always had been. If it hadn't been for a guest speaker at one of her first undergraduate courses she most likely would have gone through life thinking she was paranoid or something. As it was the navy profiler had pinned her as having a rather useful skill within five minutes of her asking him a question. Thinking back on that day she wondered how differently her life would have turned out if she'd missed that day of class, or signed up for a different section. For a brief, all consuming moment, she wished she had.

McNorris brought her back to the present. "I've dealt with slimes before. I'll pin him down. I just need to figure out how."

"See? That's what's bothering me. All we've got is a few latent fingerprints. No DNA, no gun, and no GSR on his hands. There's no way. We missed something and I can't work it out."

"When you do let me know. The last thing I want is to get sidelined in the courtroom."

"Nice sports metaphor. Very manly."

"Smart ass."

She grinned cheekily as she chewed. 'Smart ass' was his new nickname for her. Whenever he used it, it was with amused fondness, so she took no offence. She figured he liked that she was, indeed, a smart ass. It gave him someone to safely play with in this intricately dangerous game of politics and strategy that his life was. She might be a frustrating pain in the neck sometimes, but she was his pain in the neck. When the chips were down he knew she would take his side even if she wouldn't say that. It was nice this alliance they had formed. Oh, it was utterly dysfunctional, and he drove her nuts, but it went both ways, so it worked.

She made a suggestion. "You know what we need? A break. I can't focus on anything but the case."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's what you're supposed to be focused on."

"When I'm focused on that I'm not thinking outside the box. I function best when I'm hovering around the box. Out in the ether looking in." She made a funnel like movement with her hands as her Tupperware rested on her outstretched legs.

"Of course you do. You don't do anything like a normal person. Why would this be any different?"

"That's how my brain works. I need things to jump at me from unexpected places."

As if her words were a harbinger of doom there was a sharp knock on the office door. The DDA shot her a dry look, blaming her for whatever was about to prance through the entrance to his place of work, and she shrugged innocently as she put more salad in her mouth. There was no way she could control the universe in such a manner. "It's open." He called.

A thin blond woman in her thirties opened the door. She was dressed very well in a fitted blue day dress that was made of a heavy and expensive fabric. She had a string of pearls around her throat that had to be real, and what she was almost sure was a designer handbag. The woman's blue eyes landed on her sprawled across two chairs with a plastic Tupperware container in her hand and she immediately felt as if she was doing something wrong. Dismissing her, the woman's eyes flicked to the DDA, who she noticed had gone stiff all over. "Marian."

She nearly choked on her food. This was Marian? Shut the front door. Marian's voice was calm and collected when she spoke. "David."

She stood up as gracefully as she could considering the way she had been positioned between the two chairs she had taken over. Moving toward the door she stopped next to the woman as she pulled her PDA out of her jacket pocket. She had no business being here for this kind of personal visit. "If you'll excuse me? I have to make a phone call."

The tiny blond, who was at least three inches shorter than her and fifteen pounds lighter, took her in and nodded in acceptance at her graceful exit. Thankful the woman was graceful about this she moved on out. Grabbing the door handle and shutting them in together, she put space between her and the estranged couple. She retreated to the lobby of the law office to wait this out. Plopping down on one of the leather couches she picked up a copy of this morning's newspaper and flipped it open. She hadn't had time to read it today. She was nearly through, and reading about the housing market, which was depressing, when Marian walked into the large empty room, everyone else in the office had left hours ago. She folded the paper neatly and stood up.

"Are you finished?" She stuck with polite. It seemed to be the best way to go with this woman.

Marian responded to civility and grace. "Yes." She felt herself being assessed. "We are." Oh. That wasn't at all hard to comprehend. Marian saw the understanding in her eyes before promptly throwing her for a loop. "Are you sleeping with him?"

She was only taken aback for half a moment, then what happened to end their marriage sprang up and she shook it off. "No."

"You're smarter than I was. If I were you I'd stay as far from David as you can. He has a habit of sucking people dry before tossing them aside."

She tilted her head to the side. How odd that Marian would try to protect her. The woman didn't know her and had no reason to try to help her. "You seem to have retained most of you spunk."

Marian held her hand up and she saw a large diamond setting in a platinum band sparkling on it. "I've done better. I'm not on the sidelines anymore."

She gave the woman a small, genuine smile. There was no reason for her life to be ruined because her first marriage ended badly. Sometimes, late at night, she wished for the same thing for herself. "Congratulations."

"Thank you. Have a nice night." With that she turned on her high heels and went to the elevator. She watched the petite blond disappear through the doors before heading back to McNorris. She walked through the open door to find him staring at a manila envelope motionlessly. Without asking for permission she picked it up and pulled out the papers inside.

Her eyebrows rose after she read the first few sentences. "So?" She set the papers down in front of him. "Are we happy or sad about this?" His ex-wife had come to give him the paperwork to show she no longer received alimony from him. It didn't surprise her at all that he had been giving it to Marian. It hadn't taken her more than a month after her mini intervention to work out that he had given Marian everything she asked for in their settlement and more. He'd probably given his ex-wife enough to give his own divorce attorney an aneurism.

"She got married." He seemed to be trying to grasp that concept.

"Yup."

"To a veterinarian." He looked at her with a strange kind of innocent bafflement. "She hates dogs."

Her lips curled up. "He's not a dog, McNorris. He only works with them."

"I can't believe this."

"Why?" She picked her salad up again after sitting back in the chair. "Did you expect her to stay alone forever?"

"No."

"Did you expect her to come back after you cheated on her?"

"No." He leaned back in his chair and glanced out the window. "I never expected that, not really."

"Then why is this such a shock?"

"We've only been divorced for a year."

"How long were you separated before that?"

"A year and a half."

She nodded. "That's more than enough time to meet someone and get married." She took a bite before continuing. "Actually it's enough time to do that and hide a body. I really think you're pretty lucky."

"What?"

"If my husband had cheated on me I would have killed him." She nodded to herself. At the end of the day she wasn't all that forgiving about certain things. Hurting kids, rape, genocide, blatant betrayal of marriage vows, especially ones someone made to her were all on her bad list. To her, these things were absolutely unacceptable. "I really think Marian took the high road with you. She didn't even take all your money or the house. She's a lot nicer than I would have expected. She can dress too. I mean, it's not my style, but wow. Did you see her shoes?" His attention was locked on her and she twirled her fork in her hand. "What? They were classy."

"My ex-wife just told me she's getting remarried and you're commenting on her footwear?"

"Why can't you ever let me have any fun? This situation doesn't have to be bad for both of us."

He rolled his eyes. "I thought women were supposed to be these emotionally complex and understanding creatures. But you? You're…" He flicked his hand. "I don't know what you are."

"There's no need to have a hissy fit." She said. She wasn't hurt by his comments. With what was sitting in front of him there was could be no other reaction than pissy from him. He huffed and spun his chair so he was half facing the window and she softened. She really should try to be nicer about this. She was being a little hard on him, it wasn't like he broke up with her or something. It was in her nature to side with the underdog. In her opinion, in their relationship, Marian had always been the underdog. The woman's real victory had been getting out of a relationship with a man that was obviously far too damaged for her to deal with.

"Look, I'm sorry." She picked the papers up and put them back in the envelope so they weren't mocking him. "This is totally crappy. It sucks hard core when someone that knows you rejects you. Losing a long term partner is never fun, no matter what the circumstances of the break are." She knew he was listening since he rotated a quarter of an inch back toward her. "And I'm sure with your history, and her knowing about it, it didn't make this very easy for you at all."

"My history?" He asked blandly.

She paused as she was closing the little silver clasp that kept the flap on the envelope closed. "The childhood abuse." He looked at her out of the corner of his eye and she pushed forward, feeling some sort of oddness crop up. "That makes it hard for you to form emotional attachments. Harder than it is for most people."

Silence fell, and it wasn't the normal comfortable silence that usually existed between them. It wasn't even the angry silence that sometimes filled the room when they were arguing and they were waiting for one of them to give in. This was another kind of silence. She stared at him as he looked at her sideways and all at once she understood what he was trying not to tell her. "Oh, you stupid idiot." She said it softly with no hint of anger or accusation. "You never told her did you?"

He pressed his lips together, angry that she had worked that out. "There was no reason to tell her. It would have only upset her."

"No reason?"

"Marian was from a good family. She wouldn't have understood."

"Why would you think that something that fundamentally shapes your personality was unimportant?"

He glared at her. It was easy to see he didn't want to talk about this. "What good would it have done? It wouldn't have made her happy or kept her content. It wouldn't have supported her or gotten her anything she wanted."

"McNorris, she was your wife."

"And until I got bored-" She could tell from his tone that he was fully aware the divorce was his fault. "-I made sure she was taken care of."

"I think she would have preferred knowing who she was really married to than a new set of living room furniture."

"She knows who I am." He snapped.

"How could she know who you are? Did you ever tell her anything about yourself that really, honest to God, mattered?"

"Don't you dare try to trivialize what we had. She loved me."

She wished she didn't have to be so honest all the time, but she realized that this was a delusion he couldn't healthily live with. "You can't love something you don't understand. Not really. You can appreciate it, and you can like it, and you want it so bad it hurts, but I promise you she never loved you. She loved what you pretended to be for her." His eyes blazed and she knew she had hit a button hard. "Why would you do that to yourself, McNorris? Why would you set yourself up for failure like that?"

"Because I loved her!" He snarled.

She stayed calm in the face of his rage. "I don't think you did." She said softly. "Because you can't really love someone you don't trust either. You should have told her. You should have let her in so she could have really been your wife, not some kind of arm candy, trophy wife, camouflage you used. You'll never be happy or satisfied with someone that isn't a full partner to you. It's not in you. You're all or nothing, ghost boy, that's just how you are. You can't spend your life pretending something else no matter how good you are at it."

He was fully facing her now. "Don't think because I had one bad night that you happened to walk in on that you know me!" He was hissing at her. "You don't have the first clue who I am!"

"Yes, I do." She sighed and shut her salad container. They were done for today, there was no recovery from this. He wanted nothing more to do with her, and wouldn't for the next several days. Standing up, she set the container in her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "At least better than anyone else that ever met you does." She met his eyes levelly. "I know you're pissed off right now, and honestly I don't blame you, I often have people angry over what I say."

"Then why do you say it?" He growled.

"Because it needs to be said and you're the kind of man that, despite how mad hearing it make you, would prefer brutal honesty to pretty lies. Besides, you would see a lie a mile away. Your job is either lying or sniffing them out. There's no point in insulting your intelligence." She shrugged. "And I also know that anything I say to you will be interpreted as a steaming pile of bullshit, but I'm going to say it anyway so you can mull over it until you want to talk to me again." His jaw clenched and she continued. "You're right that someone who wasn't abused by a parent could ever really understand what happened to you. I won't pretend that I do. My parents were good to me, which is something I appreciate the longer I live, however I do understand what it means to be damaged. I understand that you're deeply terrified that if I know what you are, what happened to you, and how you think, that I'll find you monstrous and abhorrent." His eyes flickered for the briefest moment before he hid himself away. "You have a fair number of flaws, McNorris, but I still like you. I think, despite what you do, that you're a good man that's trying his best. That's a lot more than most people can say."

"You're right." She raised an eyebrow. "I do think that's a steaming pile of bullshit."

She nodded slowly in acceptance. "Maybe tomorrow you won't." She turned toward the door before looking over her shoulder. "Don't do anything you're going to regret doing tomorrow because of this. If you think you need a drink come over and we'll deal with it, all right?"

"I don't need your help."

"Everyone needs help, even you. There's nothing wrong or weak about that." She sent him a small smile. "Goodnight, McNorris."

He refused to wish her goodnight in return. He didn't come over that night and she gave him his space. She didn't see him until she was pouring a cup of coffee the next morning. He walked into her kitchen with a bag in his hand and scared her half to death. She jumped three feet in the air at his sudden and silent appearance. "How did you get in here?"

"Are you hungry?" He asked in way of greeting as he set the bag down and started pulling out the baked goods.

"I'm more curious as to how you got past my locks and alarm system."

"Do you like cream cheese on them?"

Obviously, he wasn't going to tell her how he broke through her security. After all, if he did he wouldn't be able to do it again. So, instead of asking a third time she got out another mug and poured him a cup of coffee. "Yes, I like cream cheese." He pulled a container out of the bag and she got a few plates out so he could put the bagels on them. They smelled delicious even before he got them out of the bag. He must have got them fresh made at a bakery. "Thanks for bringing me breakfast."

"You're welcome." He was quiet as she got out a butter knife and started covering her bagel with the spread. "I'm sorry I snapped at you yesterday." He said abruptly.

She set her bagel down. "I'm sorry I was so blunt with you and I'm sorry if I upset you. I don't know what your marriage was like."

"I thought I was in love with her. I loved her more than anyone else I ever have, except maybe my baby sister." He said after a prolonged moment. "She deserved to be loved. I shouldn't have dragged her into all this with me. L.A. wasn't the place for her and I certainly wasn't the man she needed."

"It's over now. She moved on and now you need to. Perk up." She sent him a smile. "Everything will work out for you too."

"You're awfully optimistic considering your line of work."

"Eh." She shrugged. "If you're not dead it's not over." She met his eyes. "Are we cool, ghost boy?"

"Yes."

She brightened all over and held a fist out toward him over the counter. He rolled his eyes. He found fist bumping to be a 'juvenile display that only emphasized his mental superiority over her'. "I'm not pounding your fist." He stated.

She started to wheedle him, knowing they were fine again. "Come on! You know you want to!"

"No."

"Do it!" She jabbed her fist forward a few inches. "Dooooo itttt!" With a sigh of annoyance he caved and lightly tapped his knuckles against hers. She laughed happily and picked up her food. "Since you've been so good as to humor me and brought me breakfast I'll make your morning."

"How?"

"I figured out how he failed the GSR test after he shot that man." His eyes went sharp and she smiled as she took a bite of her bagel and chewed. He was going to be so jealous she figured this out first.


	9. Negotiations: Month Eleven

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown

**9. Negotiations- Month Eleven**

"McNorris, would you please leave me alone?" She asked with a heavy hint of frustration. She had been walking all day in these heels and her feet were killing her. It didn't help that she was practically racing around the department to get things done, and he was leaning over the opposite side of the filing cabinet bothering her. "I don't have the patience to deal with you today."

He rolled his eyes. "We have a case to prepare for."

"Eh!" She made a shooing motion. "It's not for two weeks and I have a photographic memory. Can't you just e-mail me about this?" She didn't have time to be modest today.

"No, I can't just e-mail you the prep time!"

She came up with an alternate solution. "Then we can do it tomorrow."

"I'm in meetings until nine tomorrow night."

Why did he always assume that she should make time around his schedule? She had her own schedule to deal with, and she found it as important as his. Then again, she wasn't an overzealous narcissist. She needed to break him of this mindset soon or he was going to drive her up a tree. "What do you want from me? I can't shove more hours in the day!"

"Can't you reschedule something?"

Um, no. "Like what? Mandatory counseling sessions? The other case we have in two days? The case I'm working on with Michael?"

He jumped on that. The DDA did not like that she was spending time, let alone helping, Michael Hirsch with anything. She didn't know what his problem was. Michael was a nice man. He did a lot of good work and she liked him. Michael was one of those people that radiated calm. He reminded her a lot of Jason. Her mind skittered away from that faster than McNorris attacked her new buddy. "That's the one-"

"Don't even start with me. I don't want to hear anything else about Michael Hirsh from you. He's a good man that's doing his best to help people, which is more than I can say about you most days." He clenched his jaw at the blunt assessment of his character. She put a file in the right place and shoved the drawer closed, nearly catching the elbow of his designer suit in the process. "I also have to finish a report to the state, peer review one for the Forensic Journal of Psychopathology, guest lecture at the college, get through the normal amount of work I have, get five separate profiles to different detectives, and go to precinct ten to deal with some sort of internal problem they won't even brief me on until I get there. Believe it or not, you are not on the high end of my priority list."

"This case could win me-"

"Seat for district attorney." She finished. "I swear if you say that about one more of your cases I'm going to knock you out with a baseball bat. That, or lock you in an interrogation room with Ray and watch from the window as you two work through your hostility in a more primitive manner."

Sitting down at her desk she pulled up a file and started typing so fast her fingers were nothing but a blur. "We can have a lunch meeting." He proposed magnanimously.

"I don't have time for a lunch meeting." She responded distractedly.

"Then dinner."

"No time! No time, McNorris!" She kept typing. "Should I say it in Spanish?"

She felt him eyeing her. "When was the last time you ate?"

"At some point in the past." She hit print and immediately jumped to the next thing.

"When, Darcy?" He pushed.

She started sorting through papers as she searched for her notes on her next session. She was trying to talk one of the newest cops here through his first shooting. Luckily, no one had died, but the young man was on edge from the incident and trying not to let his senior partner know. At least he was open enough talking to her as long as what they talked about stayed between them. "Lunch with you and Joel yesterday I guess."

"Darcy, it's Thursday."

"Umm, okay?"

"We had lunch Tuesday."

She glanced away long enough to shoot him a look. There was no need for him to play games with her. Not when she was this stressed out. "No, it was yesterday. Don't try to mess with my head."

He raised an eyebrow. "Check your calendar."

Growling at the interruption, she yanked the book out of her top desk drawer and flipped it open. Sure enough she found the man was right. "Fine. You win." She put the book away and went back to typing after yanking the notes from the pile.

He stood up. "Save whatever it is you're doing. We're going to get you food before you pass out. Even you can't survive on caffeine alone."

"Go away. I've gone longer without food. I'm good."

He leaned over the desk. "If you don't come and eat I'm telling everyone what you did."

"What exactly did I do?" She wasn't even slightly concerned with him. She hadn't done anything wrong. The only thing he could embarrass her with was her back, and for some reason she was sure he wouldn't tell anybody about that.

He shot her a shit-eating grin and mouthed a single word. "Franklin."

She met his eyes and knew he knew. How the hell did he know about Franklin? One little under the table deal to get a name in a rape case and he found out. So it wasn't strictly legal to neglect mentioning a few of the rat's extra curricular activities. It was for the greater good damn it, and some B and E's didn't seem so bad in comparison to the man she helped the department catch. She cursed him in her head and out loud. "You're a rat bastard."

"And you're hungry. Come on. Time for lunch."

Pressing her lips together tightly she saved her file and put her computer to sleep. Grabbing her bag she locked the door to her office and followed the DDA, fuming silently the whole way to his car. She didn't let him open the door for her like she usually did. She simply got in and slammed the door shut, nearly smashing his fingers inside. He snapped his hand back even as his lips twitched in amusement. He got in beside her and pulled out of his spot.

She refused to speak to him. He didn't deserve attention for this. The short ride to a nearby diner that they frequented was silent as she sat with her arms crossed. It was down time between lunch and early dinner and they got a table in the back corner without having to wait. The waitress took their order and vanished to get their drinks. Then she pulled out her PDA and began to type on it. She would be productive just to spite him.

"This is an interesting temper tantrum." He commented with delight. He was smug as all hell that he finally managed to really get under her skin. "I feel like I'm dealing with a teenager."

"Shut up. I'm not talking to you."

"There's the maturity I love to see from you." She ignored him and started on an e-mail. "I'm amazed anyone allows you to teach malleable young minds."

He could just bite her. She moved to the next e-mail and vaguely wondered if she could get an hour-long massage for her hands. Between typing, writing, and texting they hurt as much as her feet. The waitress dropped off their drinks and took their orders. She looked up from what she was doing to talk to the younger woman before going back to ignoring the DDA. Unperturbed, he started describing the case to her as they waited for food.

Despite her anger she listened to everything he had to say as she worked on her PDA. She was damn good at multi-tasking and she knew it. So did he. She was even more annoyed all at once. When he finished his tale he asked. "What do you think?"

"You could have sent me an e-mail." She said blandly. "Or better yet found a doctor. You know I don't have the credentials to testify as a medical expert."

"You've done it before."

"I had time to research that before hand _and_ you had an Md on the stand too."

He sighed in annoyance. "Do you know what your problem is?"

"Yes, it's you."

He ignored that. "You need to relax."

"Or get rid of you. Either way." She sent the message she was working on and moved to the next with quick efficiency.

"Have you considered going to the bar and picking yourself up a man?"

She was torn between laughter and smacking him. "Sex with an anonymous stranger is your solution to my hectic schedule?"

"If that bothers you I'm sure you could find a man you know willing-"

"You know as fun as this conversation is, lets not have it." The last thing she wanted to talk with McNorris about, whose middle name was no doubt 'sex fiend', was her love life. Or her total lack of one. Either way, it was a bad topic to get into him with, and one she really didn't want to have to explain. The last thing she wanted at this point in time was a man in her bed with her. She would rather spend her sleepless nights alone so she wouldn't have to explain why she didn't sleep, the scars on her back, her fear of close physical contact, or the night terrors that inevitably woke her up when she did manage to fall asleep for an hour or two.

He smirked at her. "Darcy, you're wound as tight as a harp cord. I'm trying to look out for your mental well-being. You should be grateful. I'm the only one that is."

She snorted. "Yeah, sure you are."

He feigned a wounded expression. "Did anyone else take you out to get food?"

"No, they were nice enough to leave me alone so I could get my work done."

"You'd be more productive if you were relaxed."

"Uh huh."

He stretched out on his side of the booth. "I'll save you some effort. If you're looking for someone to help you relax I'd be more than happy to help-." She swayed a bit and held a hand to her mouth. He sat forward with a frown. "Are you all right?"

She took a deep breath and lowered her hand. "Geez, sorry." She sat back. "I just threw up a little in my mouth at the thought of you naked."

He rolled his eyes and sat back as her eyes danced. "A simple no would have been sufficient." She chuffed out a laugh and McNorris tried to pull his pride back together. "If you change your mind let me know."

"You're a man whore. Do you know that?" She continued to type on her PDA. "Not only would you give me some sort of disease you're out of my acceptable age range. That, and you're a pig."

"Your acceptable age range?"

"I refuse to see anyone more than ten years older than me."

"I'm thirty-eight." He said as if she had just told him he had a foot in the grave.

"I know how old you are, ghost boy."

"How old are you?"

"Didn't your mother teach you to never ask a woman that?"

Now he was leaning forward with interest. "You have to be at least thirty."

The waitress dropped their food off at that moment and raised a skeptical eyebrow as she heard what the man said. McNorris noticed even as the woman walked away. She slipped her PDA back in her purse and picked up her sandwich. Now that there was food in front of her she realized how hungry she really was. The DDA was completely distracted from his own meal. "You have to be at least thirty. You have a PhD and you've been working for at least four years." She simply ate her sandwich. "How old are you?"

She rolled her eyes and swallowed. He wasn't going to leave this alone. "Twenty-seven."

"Liar."

"I can see there's no point in having this conversation." Reaching into her purse she tugged her wallet out and tossed it to him. He flipped it open and pulled her driver's license out to confirm what she said. As he stared at it in disbelief she went after a french fry after locating some ketchup.

There was a slight pause as he verified that her ID was legit. "_You're twenty-seven_?"

She was pretty sure she'd said that already. "As of two weeks ago. It hurts me that you didn't get me a cake."

He rubbed his temples with one hand as he held the plastic card in the other. "What are you? Some sort of genius?"

"Yup."

Her bland answer threw him. He glanced up as he placed her card back in her wallet. "What's your IQ?"

"Why is that always the first question people ask? IQ is not the end all and be all of intelligence testing. All it does is determine if a person is capable of conforming to a standardized test. It doesn't address real world knowledge or common sense at all."

His lip twitched. "So what is it?"

She rolled her eyes. "One eighty."

He started to laugh. She shook her head as his chuckles morphed into full-blown belly laughter. Eating her food quickly she let him. She was more than half done by the time he calmed down. "Christ almighty, how do you relate to people?"

"I've never had a problem relating to people."

He went shrewd all of a sudden. "That's why you like the crazy ones."

"What?"

"They don't think like the rest of the population either. It must be a relief to talk to anyone that doesn't think the same."

"Ghost boy, that is really screwed up."

"Maybe." His eyes were sharp and analyzing. "But it's true." After a year and a half of knowing him she was well aware there was no point in denying something when he was looking at her that way. The man was like a freaking human lie detector. He shook his head. "And I thought I had problems."

"Go to hell-" Her phone went off and she pulled it to her ear. "Fox."

The captain spoke quickly. "Darcy I need you over at the precinct ten now."

"Why?"

"Gillespie locked himself in the office after stealing a gun from a new cop. He's threatening to kill himself."

"He did what?" Her voice was sharp and McNorris watched her.

"They need you there five minutes ago."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Tell everyone to stay away from the doors." He responded with a hurried agreement as she hung up and grabbed her wallet out from in front of him. "You need to take me to my car."

"You didn't finish."

"I have to go." She tossed money down on the table, more than enough to cover their food and a thirty percent tip, and hustled him out. She refused to tell him what was happening as he drove her to the parking garage, and she practically leapt out of his car before it came to a stop. For some reason she felt better about going to a person threatening to kill himself than hang out with McNorris any longer. He was the only one to ever correctly identify why she liked her job so much.

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She sat silently in her car outside the police station as she tried to pull herself together. That had been horrible. She was covered in blood and she smelled like gunpowder and fear. To be honest she was surprised she wasn't hurt. Her jacket had a hole through it from the weapon Gillespie had used to shoot one of the cops who was trying to help her a moment before he shot at her. She managed to avoid getting shot herself by hurling herself behind a filing cabinet. Then another blast had gone off and she heard a thump. The next few minutes were a blur of adrenaline and patchwork triage as she tried to get the cops shoulder to stop bleeding until the paramedics got there. There was nothing anyone could do for Gillespie, not with most of his head splattered over his office.

She felt like she failed today. The situation had totally escaped her control. That shouldn't have happened, not after she'd spent more than five minutes with Gillespie. She was better than what the incident had dissolved into, a shot cop and a dead psychologist. It didn't matter to her that no one blamed her for what happened. It didn't matter that they had waited far too long to contact her, or told her far too little about her fellow therapist. She felt like this was her fault.

As she sat there trying to get her bearings and hearing back, the shooting had nearly deafened her in the small room they'd been in, her phone went off. Reaching over she smeared blood on her car seat and her purse. She'd left the scene as fast as she could, not even taking the time to clean up after trying to get the cops blood from leaking out all over the place. She wasn't a medical doctor, but she knew enough about first aid to at least help. After that no one wanted her at the precinct, she didn't blame them, so she retreated.

Picking up the phone, the blood spread out over the buttons and she closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see it for a minute. "This is Darcy Fox." Her voice was heavy with exhaustion.

"Darcy? It's Michael."

"Michael?" She asked vaguely.

There was a slight pause. "Yes, we were supposed to meet forty minutes ago."

Her mind tried to catch up. "I'm sorry." She leaned back in her seat. "I was taking care of something. There was an emergency at the department."

"That's all right." She could hear a note of apprehension in his voice. "Can you come to my office now?"

She opened her eyes and saw her bloody hand holding the steering wheel. "I don't think that's a good idea." Her voice cracked on the last word and she cleared her throat. "I need to go home."

"Darcy, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine."

Her phone beeped, indicating she had another call. She had no doubt it was her boss. "I have someone on the other line. I'm really sorry I missed our meeting. Tell me what time is good for you tomorrow and I'll be there."

"Darcy-"

"I really have to go. Bye, Michael."

She hung up on the psychiatrist and answered her boss. His questions were detailed and to the point. She was grateful for that, and her release from work for the rest of the day. He said she could give a full report tomorrow so she started her car and headed home. When she pulled into her driveway she saw that there was already a car there. She cursed as she shut off her own engine. The last thing she wanted was to deal with one of the cops, Hicks promised she would be left alone. Getting out of her car she looked around tiredly, and to her surprise, spotted Michael standing up from the bench she had on her small cement patio. His eyes flew over her and she froze in front of her car.

"What happened to you?"

"You shouldn't have come here." She said as she moved forward.

"I'm here now. I'm not leaving." No, he wouldn't now, not with her covered in blood.

"I know." Digging out her keys she spread more blood around as she unlocked her house. "Come in." He followed her and shut the door carefully behind him. She led him to the living room. "Make yourself at home. I need to clean up." She waved her hand. "I have sodas and tea in the fridge. Help yourself."

He nodded and she disappeared down the hall. She shut her bedroom door and went for her shower. Turning the water on hot she began to strip down and hurled her clothes in a corner. The suit was ruined. She didn't want it anymore anyway. She stepped under the spray of water and blood ran off her in a red wave. Disgusted with the sight, and the memories it was bringing to the surface, she closed her eyes as she got clean, using her memory and hands to find her soap and shampoo.

Twenty minutes later and she shut off the water, dried off, brushed out her short hair, and threw on some clothes. When she was done she padded out and found Michael flicking through something on his PDA. He heard her and ended what he was doing immediately. "Darcy?"

She nodded toward the kitchen. "I need something to drink."

Understanding, he nodded and followed her. She pointed to the bar stools and he sat as she pulled a coke out of the fridge. She didn't beat around the bush. "The therapist at another other precinct lost it. He shot one of the officers that was trying to help me talk him down before killing himself."

The man flinched slightly. "Is he alive, the officer?"

"Yes, but I'm sure he's in critical care." She was also sure that the man's shoulder would probably never work right again.

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, but he tried." She opened the can. "Missed me by about a millimeter."

"He tried to hit you?"

"No, he tried to shoot me." She stared searching for her aspirin. "I didn't take this job so I could watch more people die. Fuck." She found the bottle and shook two pills in her hand before downing them.

"More people?"

"Never mind."

"I don't think that's something that I can let you push aside."

"Michael, I like you a lot but you aren't my psychologist. You don't get to counsel me."

"Should I get you the number of someone that can?"

She barked out a humorless laugh. "No, thank you. I'm very aware of what my mental state is."

"Are you?" He asked with quiet seriousness.

"Yes." She took a drink. "I really am."

No sooner had she said that then her front door opened. She shook her head and got two bottles of water out of the fridge. She set them on the counter as the DDA walked in. He went stiff all over at the sight of Michael and glared. Hirsh was clearly trying to work out this unknown and unsuspected dynamic as David puffed up and walked in as if he owned her house. Oh, male posturing, it got old so fast.

"What are you doing here?" McNorris asked with annoyance.

Michael was calm. "I came to check on Darcy."

Blue eyes narrowed. "How did you hear about what happened?"

"I didn't."

He growled. "Then-"

She cut in. "As fun as listening to the two of you argue is could you do it elsewhere? I'm not in the mood for company."

David looked her over. "Are you hurt?"

"No."

"I heard he shot at you."

"He did."

His jaw clenched and he took a step toward her, as if to check her over. It threw her into a near panic and she jerked back, completely loosing focus on pretending to be normal and okay with having people close to her. It was unfortunate that both Michael and McNorris read body language so easily. The DDA froze where he was before moving away from her. Michael's eyes were sharp as she caught herself and forced herself to calm down. She pretended like nothing happened. "Look, I appreciate that you both came to check on me, but I'm fine and I really have to go get ready. I have to be at a class in less than an hour."

McNorris raised an eyebrow and Michael spoke even as he stood up. "Maybe you should cancel whatever class this is."

The DDA sent Michael a sideways look as what he said backfired. McNorris knew better than to tell her what to do without at least trying to bribe her and was waiting for her to go off on the psychiatrist. "I'm not cancelling anything." Her voice was hard and the man retreated at once.

"Okay." His response was calm and utterly accepting.

Her eyes narrowed. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Trying to counsel me!"

"I'm not-"

"And now you're lying." She stated baldly. "Both of you get out of my house." She moved forward and they wisely fell back as she herded them to the door. "If you need something to do this badly then talk about the case you were telling me about at lunch."

"What?" McNorris asked.

"Michael could help you with it."

"_No._" The response was vehement. "I'm _not _working with him."

"Fine." They were at the door. "Then you can loose."

"I won't loose."

"What case?" Michael asked.

"There is no case for you to stick your nose in-"

"Play nice, ghost boy." He glared daggers at her as they got to the porch. "He's going to help us with it. He went to med school. He has a knowledge base that we lack."

"I'll find a consultant-"

"I already have." She said stubbornly. "You want to win this case so bad?"

"I don't want anything enough to-"

She leapt back in. "I thought this would win you a spot as district attorney?"

His jaw ticked. "And I thought I said that every week?"

Michael was watching them volley back and forth like a spectator at a tennis match. She put her hand on her hip. "Then I guess you'll have to ask yourself how sure you are this is the case that'll make it or break it. I'm not going to do any more outside research for you. I don't have the time to go digging through medical journals with all the other things I'm doing this month. Either Michael helps or I walk."

"You can't walk. This is your job."

"Ghost boy, how hard do you think it would be for me to find a new job?"

He growled low in his throat as they stared off. She knew she won already. McNorris knew damn well that replacing someone as helpful and trustworthy as her at this point would be impossible. Not only was her skill level higher than anyone else he ever worked with, they functioned well together. She was probably the best partner he'd ever had, or hoped to have again. She knew what happened to her today was working in her favor as well. McNorris could be nasty and selfish, but he had a protective streak that ran through him too and he had turned that streak so it was locked on her. Her being shot at and witnessing a suicide had him giving in with relative ease. Still, he had to put up a front to save face. "One case." He snapped. "That's it."

"Fine." She agreed. She turned to Michael. "I would really appreciate it if you would help us with this. It's too complex for me to get a handle on. I know you're busy too." The DDA rolled his eyes in disgust at her polite request to Hirsch.

"I'd be happy to see what I can do after all the help you've given me."

"Thank you." She turned her attention back to McNorris. "Get him the case file. We can meet Monday evening if it works for everyone. If not, text me and I'll rearrange my schedule." The attorney opened his mouth, no doubt to tell her he wasn't her secretary, before she continued. "Now I have to go get ready. Be nice, or so help me I will drop you like a bad habit."

He sent her a look that told her he would get even with her for this before turning and walking to his car. She shook her head and nodded to Michael. "I know he's about as placid as meth addicted bear, but he's not that bad."

"I'll take your word for it." Michael shrugged. "I doubt we'll ever get along."

"I have no doubt of that. I promise to be a happier person when we meet again. Sorry, I'm in a piss poor mood."

He smiled at her. "Don't worry so much. Anyone would be upset after the day you had. Goodnight, Darcy."

"Goodnight, Michael." She waved before shutting the door. She really needed to get her head on straight before she went to talk to a bunch of undergrads.


	10. Teamwork: Month Eleven

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**10. Teamwork– Month Eleven**

"Did you get enough food?" McNorris asked dryly. Both he and Michael were watching her down a whopper and large fries in amazement.

"Probably not." This was the first time she'd gotten the chance to eat today. Considering she only had fifteen minutes to get from her office to the DDA's she thought she'd done rather well in her foraging, especially since there was only one fast food restaurant between the station and his building. She continued to eat as she stared out the window. She was tired and getting a little slaphappy now that her stomach was getting full. All she wanted to do was take a catnap but this was the only day this week all of them could meet so she was sucking it up. They needed to get this done.

"I'd love to know how you can eat that way and stay so thin." Michael was eating a chicken salad as he spoke. She was trying to remember the last time she'd seen a full-grown man voluntarily eat a chicken salad and nothing else. She wasn't sure she ever had, but hey, this was California not the Midwest, and Michael was hyper focused on all things health oriented. There was no point in comparing him to anyone else; he was too unique for that.

"She's not that thin." McNorris said. He was still trying to get revenge for forcing him to spend time with Michael. A jab at her weight was the least of her worries, that didn't mean it would go unpunished. She chucked a balled up napkin at the blond. It bounced off his temple and he glared at her as it hit the floor next to his shoe.

"Sometimes I wonder why you're still single and then you say something like that. Really clears the whole thing up."

He continued to glare at her and she smirked. Grabbing a few fries she silently bemoaned her lack of ketchup and downed them. "I don't see you bringing home a man." He snarked back at her.

"I don't want one." She stated.

"Do you want a woman?" He threw back.

"I'm not gay." She responded, unperturbed with his efforts to annoy her. "Although some days I really think that would be easier than dealing with you lot and your Y chromosomes."

"That surprises me." Michael cut in before McNorris could take that comment and run with it.

"That she's straight?"

"Ass." She threw at him.

"Why don't you want a partner?" Michael asked curiously.

This was straying into dangerous territory. She shifted the line of questioning as she poked a tomato back under her bun. "Why don't you? You seem like the settling down type."

"I never found the right one. That doesn't mean I stopped looking."

"How touching." David was clearly _so_ interested in this. He began to scan through his e-mails.

"Unlike McNorris, I don't suffer from chronic pessimism."

She grinned. "Actually, I think its chronic narcissism."

"That might be true but he'll never let me diagnose him." Michael responded with a falsely wistful gleam in his eye.

"I know right? He's no fun at all."

"I'm never letting the two of you in the same room again." McNorris stated stubbornly.

She laughed and found herself enjoying the banter. It surprised her. She didn't let herself enjoy things very often anymore, not as much as she should. Then Michael kept pushing and the fun faded away. "But really why don't you?"

She shrugged and David cut in. When he spoke she realized he was actually trying to help her escape the pitfall Michael was setting up for her. Considering how peeved he was with her for making him work with the other man she was surprised he was helping her. "She's probably afraid to get married. You should be. I don't see you living with a man on a regular basis without killing him. You'd be bored inside a week with the way your mind works."

She thought she'd been very good at being married. "I rather enjoyed being married, thank you."

Both of them looked at her and she realized what she had said too late. Damn it. Why could she never keep her fat mouth shut? Her pride was once again her downfall. Ghost boy had even given her an easy out and she'd stuck her foot in her mouth. She bit into her burger and reached for a napkin. "What?" Dark eyes flashed with surprise. "You've been married?"

"Oh, God, are you still married?" McNorris asked as his eyes flicked up with interest. His gaze shifted to her back for the briefest instant and her stomach churned. She knew what he was thinking, but Jason never would have hurt her. He'd been nothing but sweet to her in the time they'd had together.

Still, that was a dumb question considering he knew she lived alone. He'd certainly busted in enough in the last month. It was his new favorite thing to do, breaking into her house. After the first two times she gave up scolding him and simply let him do it. It wasn't like he was going to catch her doing anything of interest and she figured if he didn't think it was taboo he would eventually loose interest and stop. She was actually considering giving him a key to further turn him off. Of course, this was ghost boy, so her logical assumption about his reaction could be the polar opposite of what he might do. If he got a key he might not ever leave. "No."

"How long were you married?" Michael questioned.

What was this, twenty questions? "Eighteen months."

"Did the novelty wear off that quickly?" The DDA asked. He was feigning disinterest even as he probed. Apparently his interest in getting some answers about her past outweighed his need to annoy Michael in the same quest.

She tried to throw them off with humor. "Hey, I wanted it to work, but gosh darn it, wouldn't you know necrophilia is illegal in the U.S.?" Uncomfortable silence filled the room and she rolled her eyes. "Why does no one think that's funny? At some point I thought someone would laugh."

"What happened?" Michael's voice was steady, if soft.

"He died." She answered without hesitation or much emotion. She wasn't willing to share and was bothered that she had somehow stumbled into telling them she was married at all. So she stayed calm and collected in the hopes that the subject would drop as quickly as it came up.

"Yes, we've established that." McNorris responded.

She knew her eyes went distant for the briefest moment before leaping into the present. "He died." She repeated. She had no interest in perusing this conversation. She bit into her burger again as the two men shared a glance. It was the first sign of unity the two had ever shown.

She chewed thoughtfully as she watched them. She was really sure that if they worked together they would be nearly unbeatable. It was actually a fairly scary prospect. They could take down the mob or something. They would be, like, really dorky superheroes. Their costumes? One in a suit and one in a sweater vest! Unstoppable! The mental image of them fighting crime in such a cartoonish manner erased her sadness and she was happy with her rather goofy and eccentric imagination.

When she swallowed she decided to make her observations known. "You know, I don't understand why you two fight so much."

She was surprised McNorris helped her shift the conversation no matter how snarky his response was. "Because Hirsch is gunning for sainthood and it sickens me."

She raised an eyebrow and turned her attention to Michael. "I thought you were Jewish?"

McNorris tried to kill her with a glower as Michael fought back a laugh. At least the tension was gone. "I am."

She looked back to McNorris. "The sainthood thing is out. They don't do that in the Jewish community and you can't get honoraryly named a Rabbi."

"Are you Jewish now?" The attorney asked sarcastically.

"Me? No. I was raised Protestant but I have to tell you I converted to atheism. It works better with my worldview. How's Catholicism holding out for you?"

"Why?" He asked warily, as if he were afraid she was going to attack his basic belief system. She wasn't sure why he thought that, she had no interest in doing that. She respected his faith the same way she respected everyone else's. That was an area she had no business sticking her nose in.

"I'm curious." She glanced down at her empty paper bag. "And now I'm out of food to distract me."

He visibly reined in his temper. "It's the same as it's always been."

"Full of ups and downs?" She nodded in understanding. "The ritual thing does seem to stick to the services."

"You've been to one?" Michael asked curiously.

"Sure, lots actually." She balled up the paper bag. "I've been to all kinds of religious services. I particularly liked Buddhism. No preaching, just oneness with the world, and you don't wear shoes. Any belief system where you can sit without shoes is pretty darn cool in my book."

"This from the woman with more shoes than she can wear." McNorris threw out as he typed. It was good to know someone noticed the vast array of footwear she had. She was proud of her collection; it was one of the few things she ever splurged on.

"I don't relax with shoes on though. No one can relax with shoes on. It makes total sense that you can only achieve inner peace with bear feet."

"Why?" Michael asked.

"Can you relax with shoes on?" She asked in disbelief.

"No, not the shoes." The psychiatrist redirected her. "Why did you go to so many different services?"

"Don't ask her." McNorris warned. "The answer is never the one you expect."

Michael pointed to him. "That's why he doesn't like you."

She laughed before answering his question. "One of my majors was anthropology. I did a term paper comparing the major religions. I got a bit overzealous in picking the ones I wanted."

McNorris sighed before asking a question of his own. "I knew this would happen. I knew you would get me involved. How many majors did you have?"

"Three."

He nodded as if he didn't expect anything less. "Three. Why not? Four is overdoing it but three is classy."

"You actually know what that word means?"

"You aren't funny." He remarked as he went back to his e-mail.

"I am sooo funny. Really, you have no idea."

"How did you manage three degrees?" Michael asked. "Did you go back to school?" He was studying her in a way that told her he knew there was no way she was old enough to have done that.

"Nope, I'm just good a logistics. I scheduled everything right." Sure, she nearly ran herself into the ground to get her degrees, but she'd done it all the same. You had to work to be successful sometimes. In college she'd worked her little tail off. That work got her into one of the best graduate programs in the country.

"Stop asking questions, Hirsh. It'll only give you a headache trying to work it out."

Michael was stuck on this though. "When did you sleep?"

She crumpled her bag up. "Who needs to sleep? Sleeping is for pansies."

"Ahh." David said.

"Ahhh, what?" She asked.

"That's what made you crazy, sleep deprivation. I've been trying to figure it out for months. I feel better now."

"Glad I could help clear that up. So I'm thinking we need a pair of ballet slippers."

Michael sent her a perplexed look and McNorris actually looked around the computer at her. Even for her that had been pretty random. "What?"

"Ballet slippers. You know, what dancers wear?"

"Why do we need ballet slippers?" Michael asked as McNorris shook his head.

She reached out and picked up one of the images sitting on the edge of his desk. She'd been staring at it upside down for the better part of twenty minutes. "That's the only shoe I can think of that would leave a print like this." She pointed and held the picture up. "We need to go all CSI on their asses and do a comparison."

McNorris snatched the image from her so fast she rocked forward. She huffed at him in annoyance, but he was ignoring her. "This isn't a foot print."

"Yeah it is. What else would it be?"

Michael reached over and picked up the rest of the report. He flipped through it quickly. "A drag mark." He read. "Possibly from a baseball bat."

"So what? You're going to trust the report? You guys are not good at this. You're so lucky I'm here." She waved at the image. "The kid was shot. Why would the killer bring a baseball bat if they had a gun? It was probably his girlfriend. Is she in dance class?"

McNorris was already on the phone as Michael shot her a look and continued to read. "Did you already read this?"

"No."

McNorris was listening for someone to pick up and also answered. "She always looks at the photos first."

"Look at you learning to work with me." He shook his head and then started talking to someone on the other end of the phone. She turned back to Hirsh. "Reading the report makes you biased to the writer's point of view. It'll completely ruin your objectivity. Cops are great but they aren't trained to look for stuff like that. And even the detectives that are can miss things if they're having an off day."

"How did you know it was a ballet slipper?"

"I had a friend that took dance." She shrugged. And it was true, her best friend from the ages of three to twelve had been in ballet. They had found different groups in middle school, but that wasn't something she was likely to forget. "She never could remember to take them off and switch shoes after she got out of class. It drove her mom nuts when she came home covered in mud. They must have bought her fifteen pairs of those slippers."

Across the desk McNorris was speaking into the phone, explaining what he wanted with as much patience as he ever showed. "No, the girlfriend. Is she in dance class?" Someone must have gone to check because he spoke to her again. "Do you see anything else?" He slid the images toward her. She took them and studied them intently. After a minute she shook her head and passed them to Michael.

"Nope, sorry."

McNorris gave her a half smile. "The shoe was more than enough."

She winked at him jauntily, pleased with his mood. She stretched her arms up over her head. "Too bad this has nothing to do with why Michael's here."

The DDA was on her in an instant. "What are you talking about?"

"We hardly need a medical expert for a shooting. It's weird the way this overlapped with the other murders. Dumb luck I guess, that, or a really bad neighborhood. Remind me not to move there."

She heard someone say something on the phone and McNorris answered. "Have her brought in and give her to Fearless. I have to go." He hung the phone up quickly. "You don't think this is related to the first three murders?"

"No. This kid wasn't poisoned with a neurotoxin."

Michael was in the report again. "No, he wasn't. The final autopsy report only indicates a gunshot to his chest resulting in massive internal injury. Death by exsanguinations."

"It probably didn't tickle." She agreed. "But this is just a one off." She waved at the images as she got up and went to the other three files he had sitting on his cabinet. "These ones were planned." She set the files down on his desk and sat back down. "What I want to know is who would even know what this poison was, or how to get their hands on it."

Michael flipped open the coroners report to see what compound she was talking about. He hummed under his breath as he pulled his notebook to him and started to write quickly. She picked up another file and McNorris took the remaining one. She took one look at the one she had and held it out to the DDA. He traded with her without blinking and they both tried again. "Do you have fibers?" He asked.

"Every morning." She replied. Michael snickered as McNorris ignored her joke.

"How about needle marks?" Michael asked.

"Umm… no. I don't see that anywhere." She answered.

Michael clicked his tongue. "Check the pictures for them. Have these people been buried yet?"

The DDA was searching through his own set of photos. "Only one."

"Why only one?" Michael asked.

"Religious affiliation. He had to be buried within twenty-four hours. He was the first victim and he was in the ground before we got the tox screen back. The coroner thought it was a heart attack."

"I hope we don't need to get him exhumed." Michael murmured.

Both she and McNorris flinched at that. The last time they'd had that done they had both gotten brow beaten for a week before what they were looking for showed up. Digging up the dead wasn't looked favorably upon by anyone. Talk about bad PR. It pissed off the family, made the coroner appear incompetent, and the police look like a bunch of dogs that couldn't catch their own tails. If at all possible she wanted to avoid being public enemy number one at the department again. That had been a craptastic week, and even her attempts to escape by working in this building had proved fruitless. The DA was about as happy with McNorris as her captain was with her. There was safety nowhere. "Let's not do that."

"Agreed." McNorris said at once. "No exhumations."

"Well either they ingested it or they were injected. There's no other way to get this chemical in the body. The molecules are too big to be absorbed through the skin."

"Now that would be a cool way to kill someone." She commented.

"Darcy, please keep your morbidity to yourself until we put the autopsy photos away." McNorris requested as he read through the report he had.

She stuck her tongue out at ghost boy and his lip twitched up for the briefest second. "Spoil sport. Maybe I'm trying to write a crime novel. Did you ever think of that? I need fresh ideas."

"You don't have time to write a crime novel, but when you do I want to read it."

"That's sweet."

"Someone has to honestly tell you how bad it is."

She sniffed at him in an affronted manner. "I'm hurt you would critique my hypothetically awesome book that way."

"How do the two of you get anything done? I know you win cases, I've heard about them, but how you manage to accomplish anything like this is beyond me."

She laughed and McNorris smiled briefly before returning to the original question. "No needle marks but this says there was evidence of the poison in the food they got out of her stomach."

"I'm sure Detective Hansen followed up on that. He's pretty meticulous."

McNorris huffed. "By that you mean he's predictable in his average effort output?"

"Don't be judgmental. The guy is like, eighty years old. I want to see you working at that age and coming up with anything useful."

The DDA flicked his fingers in dismissal of her defense. "It's time for him to retire. The precinct needs some new blood that's eager to solve crime."

This man was so easy to read. "And more notably ask 'how high?' when you say jump."

"That too." He agreed.

She blew air out of her mouth and up in an effort to get her hair out of her eyes. It sorta worked. "So they ate it. It's in my report."

"Yes." Michael nodded. "I have it in the food here too." The psychiatrist went thoughtful. "I don't think this is as hard as you two made it." McNorris glared at her and she shrugged. "Let me make a call. I should be able to clear this up in a few minutes." With that he pulled out his cell phone and scrolled through his contact list.

As Michael spoke to someone the attorney tossed the report he was holding on his desk. He wasn't happy the psychiatrist was traversing this case with such ease. "Never again, Darcy. I'm _never_ working with him again." She just smiled.

Author Note: Thanks for the reviews! I love them!


	11. Partnership: Month Twelve

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**11. Partnership –Month Twelve**

They walked down the steps of the courthouse arguing. "Let me explain it to you again." He said sarcastically.

"Oh, please do. God knows my delicate female sensibilities will eventually be able to absorb the concept."

"No need to turn this into a gender war."

"And there's no need for you to be an arrogant prick."

"That was completely-"

"Truthful." She cut in.

"An exaggeration." He snapped.

She snorted. "Yeah, and how's world you wish?"

"Mature, Fox."

"At least it was witty, McPainInMyAss."

"Your vocabulary astounds me. You could run a ten year old in circles."

"At least I'm capable of running a human being in circles. What the hell do you call what just happened in there?" She waved behind them.

"It was the preliminary remarks!" He snapped in annoyance. "Did it occur to you I might have a plan?"

"Only if that plan is to crash and burn."

"Look, just because you don't understand what's happening in there-"

"You losing? I got that one."

He ignored that and grabbed her arm. Shoving her toward a column of the outer court of the building he spun her around and set his jaw. She glared up at him as annoyance and anger had him bunching up. "Franklin takes a delicate hand to work around!" He hissed quietly. He obviously didn't want to be overheard. "If I don't lull him into a false sense of security he'll crush me!"

She rolled her eyes. "How can he crush you? You have enough evidence to throw the pope in prison!"

"Would you mind leaving the head of my church out of this?"

She ignored that completely. All she was really aiming for was to rile him up. She was annoyed; it only seemed fair that he was too. Their relationship was just so healthy. "And you have my testimony, Joel's testimony, and the confession on tape! I could win this with no training!"

"Is that what you think?"

"Yes." She crossed her arms over her chest as she stared up at him. "That's exactly what I think."

His eyes glinted and he pointed a finger at her when the sound of squealing tires filled the area. They both turned toward the sound and she didn't even have time to fully register what she was seeing before McNorris grabbed her, shoved her behind the pillar, and huddled over her as he protected her with his body. The gunfire started before he was fully over her. Screams went up all around the busy building and McNorris cursed next to her ear as fear rose up in her with amazing speed.

The noise was deafening and she heard the marble they were hiding behind get hit by a volley of bullets that could only have been let loose by an automatic weapon and shatter. The fire turned in a different direction and the DDA abandoned his briefcase and grabbed her hand. "Come on!" Then he was hauling her to the nearest door and she was racing after him. She caught flashes of hurt people and blood coating the stairs before he wrenched a heavy side door open and shoved her in before him. There was another blast of fire and he was nearly shot as he ducked in after her.

"Shit!" He yelled as he leapt away from the door. Alarms were going off in the building as several of the cops that were stationed at the building were pulling out their guns and heading toward the doors. McNorris didn't waste his time figuring out what was happening, he simply grabbed her again and hustled her toward the back of the building. She didn't fight, she followed him because he knew the layout of this building far better than she did.

"Who were those people?" She asked as they dashed for safety. They weren't the only ones. People were running about around them in every direction as doors on either side of the hallway were slammed shut and no doubt barricaded from the inside.

"I didn't take the time to check." His eyes were darting around and he turned them down a side hall quickly. "We need to get out of here." She saw no reason to disagree and they ran toward the back of the building. They raced into a crossroad where four hallways met and more gunfire went off.

She yelped as they raced forward. They were already half across the hall so turning back would be bad. She caught sight of an olive skinned man with a gun as they ran and then they were surrounded by marble again. Wondering how they had been circled around had her brain leaping to the only logical conclusion. The truck out front wasn't the only thing that had been holding people. More must have come at the other entrances. There was no way out.

Spotting an open door she tugged at McNorris as hard as she could. They tumbled into an office and she shut the door as quietly as possible behind them. She managed to find them an empty room. "What are you-" He hissed.

She hissed back. "They came in from all sides! There's nowhere to run!" Her eyes swept over the room and she spotted a closet. "We need to hide!" Then she was shoving him toward the other door. She heard more gunfire and screams near them and her heart raced. Then they were in a closet that held a filing cabinet and several coats, and the attorney was shoving her in the back corner. He pressed his back against her and moved the coats so they were between them and the partially open door.

When she reached forward to close the closet he grabbed her hand. "It'll be a dead giveaway that we're in here. Leave it that way." He was whispering as he held her hand tightly. "Just be quiet, Darcy."

She nodded into his shoulder and he squeezed her hand reassuringly. They stood in the dark closet for what felt like an eternity before she heard shouting. Straining her ears she listened over the sound of her pounding heart. She made out muffled curses, and then an order, and the door to the room they were hiding in banged open. Biting her lip she was a still as a statue as McNorris pressed her farther into the wall. He was completely blocking her with his body and she tightened her hand around his.

There was a brief silence before a volley of shots went off. She flinched but stayed silent. Out of their hidey-hole she was sure the office had been destroyed as someone tried to either get someone hiding under the desk or flush them out. The DDA was stiff as a board and she could feel him tensing as footsteps approached them. He let go of her hand and raised his silently. He was getting ready to throw a punch should he get the chance. There was a rustle and she spotted an old sneaker come into view as the shooter started to inspect the closet. Then there was a hand on one of the coats and she sensed David coiling to spring. "Casey!"

The hand vanished and her eyes widened. "What?" A deep voice barked not ten inches from them.

"Come on. He isn't in this hall. It's empty."

"I swear if you get us tossed in prison for this before we get him you won't make it more than a day." Then the man was moving away and the outer door snapped shut. She heard the two men arguing even as the walls muffled it. McNorris let out a low breath and she put her hand on his hip and patted him.

They stood there silently for several minutes before more sound started. She jerked when she realized it was her cell phone and ripped it out of her pocket. She answered on the second ring and the attorney was darting his eyes between the phone and the office in alarm. The person on the other end was talking before she could say anything. "Sweetness, are you okay?"

"Bad timing, Fearless!" She hissed. "I'm hiding here!"

"You're in the courthouse?"

"Yes!" She whispered angrily.

"Do you know how many gunmen there are?"

She let out a breath. "At least four."

The DDA took the phone from her. "They're after someone." She could only hear one half of the call after that. "I don't know who. A man." There was a pause as he listened to the detective. "No." McNorris was keeping his voice low. "No." He repeated firmly. "God damn it." He snapped the phone shut and turned it off so it wouldn't make any more noise. "They're sending S.W.A.T in but not for at least another twenty minutes." He had moved his head so he was breathing this out into her ear. "There are at least five people outside dead and two of them are cops. There are another fifteen that have been shot. I don't know about anyone else inside."

"Should we stay here?" She asked as he slipped the PDA back in her pocket. He was quiet as they both thought about that. "If we stay someone might come back." She said.

"If we go we might get ambushed." He pointed out.

"They said they were done checking this hall. Is there a door out of this place? Or a window?"

"All the windows on the first floor are barred." He caught her hand again. "But there is a door. Are you sure you want to make a run for it?"

"Six one way half a dozen the other. I'd rather do something than sit here waiting to get killed."

The attorney shifted unhappily. He seemed to be stuck in the same quandary she was. She knew staying was only safe if the gunmen didn't get bored and start searching again. They'd been lucky last time but there was no guarantee that luck was going to hold out. "We go fast and don't stop for anything. Agreed?"

"Agreed." She whispered.

"Okay." He eased himself forward and glanced around the office. When he was sure it was clear he let her come out after him. She saw bullet holes in everything and the ruins of what had once been a nicely kept office. Glass was all over the floor along with books, wood, and the remains of the chair that had been sitting behind the large oak desk. The attorney ignored the mess and cracked the door open quietly. His eyes darted around the hall and he nodded to her.

They snuck out of the room silently and he turned left. She was close behind as they crept toward the outside world. They snuck down the hall quickly, and a minute later she saw the door McNorris had been talking about. He relaxed and moved forward to open it. No sooner had he put space between them then everything went wrong. A man grabbed her from behind as he stepped out of an office right behind her and wrapped one hand around her neck as the other came up and shoved the barrel of the pistol against her temple. She froze and he snarled out a ragged command. "Don't move!"

McNorris turned to find her being held hostage and she saw real fear in his face. She didn't take the time to contemplate his fear as she settled into the odd calm that took her over in bad situations. She generally tried to avoid this particular state of mind, because she reacted violently when it occurred, but she was in a survival situation. It was important that she was dangerous right now. McNorris held his hands up in a peaceful gesture. "Let her go. She's only a therapist."

"A therapist!" The man shouted. He was practically vibrating with adrenaline as she sank further into a disconnected state. She saw McNorris start to panic as the gun was shoved harder against her head. He knew the man holding her was likely to kill her at any moment regardless of what he said. "Where's the fucking judge?"

"Which one?" The DDA asked at once. All he wanted to do was make this man happy so he would let her go.

"Which one? _Which one?_" His voice rose several octaves and she felt the barrel making a dent in her scalp. She pressed her lips together and remained pliant as he held her tightly. "The one that sent my brother to the fucking gas chamber!"

The DDA's eyes flashed in understanding as he made the connection. "You're Daniel Drake's brother?"

"Yes! Where is he? I swear to God if you don't take me to the judge right now I'm killing her!" Oh, this was great, one crazy brother on death row and another holding her hostage. What nice family this was. She'd heard about Drake. He hadn't been taken into their precinct but word traveled fast in the law enforcement community. The man was a nasty gang leader and that was saying something. He had his hand in every narcotics sale from here to Washington and he wasn't afraid to use muscle. He'd killed six teenagers that lost some of his merchandise around the time she had moved here. For the first time in years the man had gotten sloppy and he'd been arrested and convicted with quick efficiency.

"I'll take you to him. Just let her go."

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and another armed man walked out of a side hall. This man she recognized, it was the same killer that had nearly had McNorris leaping back into a bottle so many months ago. It seemed that they really should have tried harder to get him thrown in jail on some other charge. The man's eyes locked on McNorris and she saw satanic glee in his face. Revenge for near imprisonment seemed to be in the forefront of his mind. She could see from his expression, with his curled lip and eager eyes, that he was extremely interested in ending the line for the blond. She couldn't let that happen. Her mind suddenly associated McNorris with the concept of partner. Her instincts kicked in hard and she didn't resist them.

She reacted fast as lightning. Reaching up she grabbed the butt of the gun as she leaned forward and flipped the man holding her over her body. She shot him twice in the chest before he hit the ground, straightened up, aimed, and shot the man that was aiming at the DDA's back in his left eye before he could pull the trigger. He fell backward from the force and his pistol clattered across the marble tile.

McNorris jumped in shock and looked over his shoulder. She'd shot past his ear, missing him by a hairs breath, to hit her target. When he saw the second man he froze. She turned in a full circle to be sure she hadn't missed anyone with the gun lowered toward the ground. When she saw they were alone she began to breathe again. She sucked in sharp breaths as her eyes darted around. Her senses were in total overload as adrenaline crashed through her. In the distance she heard sirens approaching and then McNorris was edging toward her.

"Darcy?" Her head snapped to him as she stood there, rigid and alert. Her mind was jumping about oddly and she tightened her grip on the gun. The smell of gunpowder and blood was messing with her in a serious way and she knew there were more shooters in here. McNorris murmured gently at her as he moved closer. "Darcy, give me the gun." She didn't say anything and she didn't move as much as a muscle. The DDA stopped in front of her and reached out slowly. His hand brushed her knuckles and she jumped slightly. "It's all right." He assured her softly. Leaning in he whispered in her ear. "Everything's fine now. No one is going to hurt you." His fingers carefully tugged at hers as he took the barrel of the gun with his other hand. "Let go. Let go for me."

Her hands loosened at a snails pace but he eventually got the weapon away from her. He continued to speak softly. "Good girl. We're going to leave now, all right?"

"Yeah."

He nodded and turned her carefully toward the door that would lead them to the outside world. As they went he set the gun down several feet away from the body of the first man she killed before moving one of his hands to the small of her back. She shook him off the second she felt him and he dropped his arm and gave her some space instead. She appreciated that. He opened the door for her and they hustled out into the sunlight. They hadn't made it more than fifty feet before they were grabbed by several fully armored cops. S.W.A.T. practically threw them across the street toward a police barricade and she was grateful McNorris had taken the gun from her. She was sure she would have shot one of them on accident if he hadn't.

A minute later and the DDA had her sitting on a bench across the street from the courthouse. He made sure they were in the middle of the police perimeter so they were safe, but somehow he also found the only bench in the area that was tucked in the shade and gave them some amount of space from the people surrounding them. She was pretty glad he managed to find a place that didn't have a screaming person, one that was bleeding or dead, a paramedic, or a cop.

Trying to get herself under control she leaned her head back with her eyes closed and began to count silently to a thousand. When she hit five hundred she felt slightly more normal and opened her eyes slowly. McNorris was alternating between watching her and the now organized chaos all around them. "You all right, ghost boy?"

He turned his full attention to her. He was assessing and calculating. "Yes. Are you back?"

"About half."

He nodded slowly. "Let me know when you get to around three quarters." Then he went back to his inspection of their surroundings. Figuring that was probably a smart idea she continued to count with her eyes open. She didn't make it to seven hundred before Ray found them. He spotted them easily enough and moved forward. "Are you okay, Darcy? Why are you covered in blood?" The portly cop didn't worry himself over McNorris. He would care less if the DDA had been shot dead, except for the pain it would have caused her. "What the hell happened?"

David answered. "Those people-"

"The gang?"

"Yes." He snapped rather impatiently. "Drove into the courtyard in that truck." He waved at the green pickup that was parked at an odd angle out in front of them. From here she could barely see the bumper. "And started shooting. We ran back into the building to hide. They followed us and more came in from the back and tried to trap us."

Ray waited but McNorris stopped. "Well that's a lovely, if incomplete story. How'd you get out?"

She rubbed her temples. She felt a massive headache starting and McNorris had gone silent. He didn't want to implicate her in murder but he hadn't had time to work up a story yet. She figured a lie would be bad in a lot of ways. She would be better off telling Ray what happened. "They snuck up on us." She continued the story. It would be pointless to lie or change what had happened. The courthouse was full of cameras. She was sure they'd see a tape of this in less than an hour. "I shot two of them."

There was a pause. "You shot them?"

"Yes, Ray, I shot them." She continued to rub her temple. "Which really explains the blood splatter on me along with the GSR on my hands. You should check the tapes in the surveillance system. I'm sure that'll clear up the rest of your questions."

"Shit." Ray muttered as he lifted his radio to his mouth. "I need detectives Steven's and Smith at the operation center ASAP." There was an affirmative answer and then Ray spoke to them. "You two stay here. This is going to be one hell of a cleanup." Then he was going back into the building.

She sighed and tried to relax. "I think I'm about three quarters now."

"Didn't take you too long." He sat down next to her but made no move to touch her. "Are you all right?"

"I have a headache." She was quiet for a second. "How's your hearing?"

"It's a bit fuzzy but it's coming back."

"That's good." She said rather absently.

He nodded. They were both quiet again until Joel and Fearless came over, parting the crowd as they did. Fearless saw them sitting there. "Are either of you hurt?"

"No." David said.

Joel took control. "We need to talk to you separately. McNorris, go with Fearless."

The DDA stood up without a fight and he and Fearless went inside. Joel sat down next to her and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. He was quiet for several seconds. "When I look at that tape what am I going to see?"

"Me shooting two men."

Joel was calm and patient. She realized that was why he had her. It didn't take a genius to see that she was still wound up. "How'd you get the gun, Darcy?"

"The man I shot in the chest-" Joel nodded as he stared down at the crowd milling about. "-he grabbed me from behind. He was yelling at McNorris to take him to some judge that sentenced his brother to the gas chamber. I'm pretty sure that's what he said. Anyway, McNorris was trying to get him to let me go when the other one came out of the hall behind him."

"Which hall?"

"The right from where I was standing."

He wrote that down. "And then?"

The one behind McNorris was about to shoot him. He smiled and started to raise his gun. I grabbed the gun from the man holding me and flipped him over my shoulder. I shot him and then shot the one behind McNorris."

"Then?"

"Then McNorris took the gun from me and brought me outside. The S.W.A.T team threw us over here."

The detective was silent for a long few seconds. "You killed them both in less than two seconds?"

"If I hadn't they would have killed us."

Another pause. "Do you know where you hit them?"

"The heart and left eye."

"Do you know how many cops could do that?"

"In this department or in general?"

"In general."

"About three percent, give or take one percent in either direction."

Joel ran his hand through his hair. "Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"

"The firing range." She answered with partial honesty.

"Off the record."

"The firing range."

He sighed. "I need more than that."

"I don't know what to tell you."

"Okay." He put the pen and pad away. "We'll talk about this again some other time."

She decided to humor him for the moment. "Yeah, all right."

He patted her arm. "This'll be all right if the tape matches the statement. Self-defense in a courthouse? No one is going to press charges."

"I hope not since I saved the deputy district attorney."

"That might help." He stood up. "The captain's on his way along with the DA."

"_Great._"

"Good day for you I know."

She shrugged and tried to get comfortable on the old bench. She was going to be here for awhile. McNorris came back over ten minutes later and stood there silently next to her left knee. She could tell his mind was a million miles away but so was hers. Even so his presence was oddly calming. Maybe it was just having another person that she knew wouldn't hurt her that was calming her down. She was so far away that she completely missed Hicks passing them. She didn't miss his snap at her when he came back over though. "Fox!"

She glanced over to find Hicks on the edge of losing his temper. She'd never seen that before. She figured the on going stress of the standoff happening wasn't helping. "Yes, captain?"

"Can you drive?"

That was a strange question. "Yes."

"Then go home and clean yourself up. You're on paid leave until I say otherwise. I don't want you talking to anyone about this, I don't want to see this on the news, and I don't want you to so much as hear your name around the department unless it's asking how long it'll be until you're back from sick leave."

"What am I sick with exactly?"

"I don't care!" He yelled.

She nodded and stood up quickly. "I'll go with the flu then."

"Fine! Go!" She got up and her boss turned his head. "Tom! Take her to her car! I don't need her killed on her way home!"

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Hours later she was clean and blow-dried. She'd been in the shower for a long time trying to get the smell of death off of her. She'd finally emerged and tugged on her most comfortable clothes. A pair of jeans she'd had for more years than she'd been an undergrad and a worn blue t-shirt with a ridiculous 'Does the Name Pavlov Ring a Bell?' logo on it. She'd gotten it in college ages ago and it was soft and warm. She wanted to be warm.

She had retreated to her couch and had her legs drawn up to her chest when her front door jiggled. Ignoring McNorris as he broke in she kept her attention on her movie. "Darcy?"

"You shouldn't be here. You know we aren't supposed to be talking until after I give my report."

"That's too bad." He walked across the room and sat down next to her. "Are you all right?"

She nodded into her legs. "I'm fine."

"I think I would be more prone to believe you if you would either look at me or unclench your hands." When he said it she noticed that the denim on her legs was bunched under her hands. Her knuckles were white from the grip she had on them.

She couldn't get them to unclench. "Then don't believe me."

He sighed without anger and pulled a blanket off the back of her couch. A moment later and he had wrapped it around her shoulders. He must have seen her shivering rather uncontrollably. Her fingers tangled in it instead of her pants and she pulled it closer to her. "Thanks, David. What happened after I left?"

There was a pause and she knew he was processing that she had used his given name for the first time. That had only taken a little over a year. "S.W.A.T got the other three. They killed two and caught the other one. They found three more dead and another ten that were hurt."

She was quiet for a second as she thought about something. Finally, she gave in. Her fear of what happened was overriding her now normal reaction to shy away from physical contact. "I really need a hug. I feel sick and horrible. Can you refrain from doing anything inappropriate, making a joke, or talking about this with anyone later?"

"Yes."

"Okay." With that she scooted toward him and pressed herself against his side. His arm went around her shoulders and she pulled her legs up until they were resting against one of his. It wasn't exactly a hug but it was close enough. She started to relax and McNorris rubbed her arm reassuringly. She let him comfort her as she asked what had been hounding her since she'd been ordered home. "How much trouble am I in?"

"You aren't. You'll have to give a report but the cameras showed what happened. My office isn't about to press charges and no one is pushing for it. Not after what they did." She nodded into his shoulder as her muscles began to loosen a little at a time. The silence stretched for several minutes before he spoke again. "You've done that before."

"You'd never be able to prove it."

He took that as a yes as she knew he would. That was really the only way she could tell him and he could still get out of answering any question about knowing about her past. "You saved my life."

"You saved mine first."

"Not really."

"Yes, really." If he hadn't grabbed her when the truck first pulled in she had no doubt she would have been shot.

He gave her that without a fight and turned his head. He kissed her forehead quickly before turning his head away again. She found she wasn't bothered by the brief display of affection and continued to sit passively against him. A few minutes later and her show went off. Reaching over she grabbed the remote and handed it to him. He turned it over slightly before giving it back. "I don't watch TV."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

She wasn't sure how she didn't know that after all this time. Playing through her memories she realized they had never once vegged out in front of the television while they were hanging out. Generally, he was either talking her ear off while she was working, cooking, or tried to ignore him, or they went out somewhere. They never sat around on the couch. Still, she had a question about that. "Then why do you have a television in your house?"

"Because people have television sets."

"So you have a super expensive flat screen plasma TV in your living room because it's a social norm?"

"Why do you have to make everything so complicated?"

"A yes or no would be enough."

"Yes." He relented.

"David, you are so weird."

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black."

She laughed softly. "I'll give you that one."

"I suppose with you one out of thirty isn't that bad."

"True." She shifted to get more comfortable and he adjusted his arm around her once she settled. "That's a better ratio than most people get with me."

"That I believe." He said. Even as they bantered she felt her anxiety cresting. The day hit her again and she couldn't get her brain to think about anything else. She began to tremble slightly and McNorris looked at her sharply. Then he was dragging her onto his lap and crooning at her as he ran his hand over her hair. "It's all right, Darcy."

"I know." Her voice cracked noticeably. It was that or she started to cry. She couldn't stop both things from happening at the same time right now. The feelings and emotions that killing brought were too strong.

He pulled the blanket tighter around her and rubbed her back over it. "Let's be honest. It's not fine at all."

She nodded against his shoulder as she tucked her head down. If she looked at his face she would cry. She couldn't have that, not after all she'd done to put them on equal ground. Tears would ruin that. "Sorry."

"Don't be." He continued to run circles over her back. "Do what you need to do."

She nodded again and slowly reached up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He made no effort to stop her. He simply tightened his arms around her and held her against him in a tight hug. She began to relax slowly and he kissed the top of her head. His presence made her feel better and she wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe it was just because he was a big man that was often protective of her in his own strange way. Her subconscious was reacting to his presence, and she gave in. All she wanted was to feel better.

Reaching up, his hand snuck under her hair and he began to rub her neck. She let out a short, grateful breath, and pressed back into his palm. He squeezed her neck and then turned her around before tossing a pillow on the floor in front of him. "Sit there and I'll rub your neck."

"You don't need to."

"I know." He tapped her hip. "Go on."

She slid to the floor and pulled her legs up to her chest again. Once she was comfortable he settled his hands on her shoulders and began to knead them firmly. Her head tipped forward in pleasure. "You're really good at that."

She knew he smiled even though she couldn't see him. "We all have our special talents. And you have knots in your shoulders bigger than your muscles."

"I get stiff when I'm stressed." She admitted quietly. That seemed too personal to share right at this moment and she wasn't sure why. She wished her brain would snap back to the way it usually was, but for tonight it was a no go.

He hummed at the confession and his hands ran farther down her back. It wasn't sexual, which was odd since McNorris was the one touching her. He was actually just feeling her to see how true that was. His hands were gently exploring so he wouldn't hurt her. He did know how to control that strength of his. "Maybe you should start going to a massage therapist." He wasn't joking in the slightest as he prodded at her back. "You're so tight I'm afraid you're going to shatter your own spine. How long has your back been like this?"

"Awhile." He started to rub her when he was done with his exploration. He scooted closer to her and then began to work at her muscles.

"Why haven't you had anyone look at you? Because of the marks?" She flinched all over and he caught her and pulled her back before she could bolt. "That's not a very good reason." He hit a sore spot and she hissed slightly. "Not when you're in this much pain."

"I don't notice it most of the time."

"Bullshit." He said. "This is probably why you have so many headaches." She sighed and he tapped her shoulders with the sides of his hands. "Don't tense up anymore." She forcefully made herself relax. "That's better. I know someone you could go see. He's a discrete man. You won't have to worry about the scars with him. He won't say anything about them. I'll call him tomorrow and he'll set you up an appointment."

"You go to a massage therapist?" She asked in surprise.

"He's a physical therapist but he focuses on massage. I hurt my knee a long time ago playing football. It still flares up."

She saw a pretty big flaw in this plan. She might make pretty good money but she couldn't afford to toss what she had around like that. She was sure the sessions were expensive and considering the condition it was in she was sure, at least at the start, it would take a lot of those pricey meetings to get her to a good place. "My insurance won't cover that."

"Are you sure?"

She didn't even have to think about it. "I'm almost positive. I don't get that covered because I'm not a cop. I get doctors and emergency room visits. Maybe a specialist if it's life threatening."

"I'll work something out."

Guilt and embarrassment rose up, both of which were ridiculous, but there it was anyway. "You don't need to go to all that trouble. It's not a big deal."

He continued to loosen her up. "I think it is."

This felt so good. She seriously considered what it would feel like to wake up and not have to try to ignore the ache, or spend an hour in a scalding hot shower to get her muscles to loosen up. That would be the greatest thing ever. "Okay."

"Okay?" She nodded and he squeezed her neck. "His name is Travis."

"Thank you, David." She really meant that and she was sure the tone of her voice made that pretty damn apparent to him.

"You're welcome." He rubbed her for the next forty minutes and when she simply slumped backward in relief he let her rest her head on his knee. She had her eyes shut and he leaned back and ran his palm over her forehead, pushing her hair back.

"I feel a lot better." She murmured appreciatively.

"Good."

"You're not so bad when you aren't being a stupid idiot."

He snorted. "Thanks."

"Any time." She sighed out softly. She was half asleep and sinking further toward it every moment.

He continued to sooth her. "Do you want me to stay here tonight?"

She considered that sleepily. She would feel better having someone in the house with her after today but she didn't have a spare room. It wouldn't be right to ask him to sleep on the couch just so she had peace of mind. She tried to throw him off to make them both feel better. "Don't you have to be at work tomorrow?"

"No." His hand tangled into her hair. "I'm officially off everything until the paperwork for all this is through."

"I'll be okay by myself."

"I'll feel better if I stay here." He pushed.

She sighed softly and finally opened her eyes. "I don't have a spare bed, ghost boy."

He sent her a soft smile as he ran his hand over her forehead. "I've slept on worse things than your couch." Looking at the couch and then at him she wasn't even sure it was long enough to hold him. McNorris wasn't exactly a small man. He saw what she was thinking and cut her off before she could speak. He sent her a small, lecherous smile. "I could sleep with you."

"No."

He laughed softly at her refusal and he gently pushed her upright. "I'm just teasing. You're about to fall asleep sitting on the floor. All my hard work will go to waste. Get me a pillow and I'll be fine out here."

She got to her feet reluctantly and he followed her up. She led him to the hall closet. "I have extras of everything in here. Toothbrushes and stuff." She was trying to make this more socially acceptable when he wasn't even going to have a bed. He nodded and she indicated the closet. "Do you need anything?"

"I'll manage. Go to sleep." He gave her a small shove toward her bedroom when she made no move to leave him alone in the hall.

"Okay, night, David."

"Goodnight, Darcy." She retreated to her own room and shut the door. A minute later and she had slipped out of her jeans and crawled under her blanket. She heard David shuffling around quietly and it made her feel safer. She fell asleep to the sound of water running in the bathroom. It was the easiest she'd fallen asleep since she moved here.

Author Note: Leave me one :)


	12. Symmetry: Month Thirteen

Disclaimer: Boomtown is not my property. I'm just playing in the sandbox.

**12. Symmetry -Month Thirteen**

She was moving her laundry to the dryer and wishing for one of those fancy new front-loading ones when her phone rang. Shoving the wet fabric in the machine quickly she shut the top and reached into her pants pocket. She didn't even bother to glance at the caller ID before she answered; she just shoved the mobile device between her shoulder and her ear as she set the knobs on the dryer. She would just as soon have her clothes drying before she found out about some sort of crisis and had to run out of here. "Darcy Fox."

"Love the new name, cupcake." A chipper male voice chirped at her. "So fitting."

She dropped the phone at the familiar tone and it clattered across her linoleum floor. She stood where she was staring at it for several moments, frozen in shock. "Hello?" The voice called. "Please say that noise was you dropping me. I would hate to have made you pass out from fright."

Jerking forward she picked up the phone with fumbling hands. "Darren?"

"The one and only." She could see his big grin in her minds eye. Five years her senior the man was one of the hottest computer hackers in the country. He had graduated from MIT at the age of sixteen and made a name for himself in some less then legal areas before she managed to hunt him down. Her profile on him had been dead on the money, and her superiors had taken her advice to take him into the fold as opposed to tossing him in prison. It had worked out for everyone, especially her when she wanted to change her life. He had basically erased her old identity, or scrubbed it to shiny newness, and provided her with a new one. She was sure he was the only reason McNorris hadn't been able to dig up her past. Darren was the only person from her last life that knew where she was, or how to contact her.

"Is everything all right?" She asked. The only reason she could think of to be contacted after by him was major catastrophe.

"Here? Things are as crazy as ever, but everyone's good." There was a brief pause. "We've missed you. People keep asking where you are. You should have at least sent your mom a birthday card."

Her stomach knotted with remorse. She was going to, really she was, she'd gotten the card and everything. But when she was putting the stamp on it she realized the postal service would mark where the envelope came from. That had upset her so much she'd shredded the card and shoved the entire incident to the back of her mind so she wouldn't have to think about it, or her guilt, again. "Is she okay? My mom?"

"She's fine, Darcy. He pretty much adopted me, which is nice. I've never had access to so many baked goods in my life. I've gained at least ten pounds over the thanksgiving holiday."

She smiled briefly before it vanished. "She does make good pumpkin rolls."

"Do you know she uses soy milk in them? I found out. She tried to make it some big secret."

She realized where he was trying to lead her in this convoluted conversation about how her mother baked. "I'm not ready to come back." She leaned against the wall and stared out toward her kitchen. "I don't think I'm ever going to come back, Darren."

"Hey." His voice turned understanding. "I get it. I know what it's like to want to start over. I didn't call to make you feel bad."

"Why did you call?" She asked. "Are you checking up on me?" It came out teasing and that made her feel better. She had meant it to come out that way. "You know I can take care of myself."

"Trust me, I know. I actually called because something is stirring at our friendly neighborhood office."

"What?"

"You have to love the FBI. Snazzy uniforms and no brains, or maybe they just need to work on their cyber security."

She rubbed her temples as she heard soft clicking under the sound of his voice. The man was literally breaking into the system while he talked to her on the phone. She was so going to get thrown in prison for conspiracy. "I've told you not to hack into their computers. Eventually, they'll catch you and you'll get fired."

"I look forward to the day someone catches me. A real challenge would be nice. I haven't had one since I was running from you."

"You say that but you don't mean it." She let this go because scolding Darren was like scolding a brick wall. It had no effect. "So what are they up to?"

"Word on the web is that there's some shady dealings going on at the L.A. attorney's office. The shot up courthouse caught their attention last week. Did you hear about that?"

A shudder tore down her body and she rubbed her arm absently as she tried to warm up. "Yes, I heard about it. What has them sniffing around exactly?"

"Ah, got your attention. Interesting, my little profiling queen. Since you're curious I'll tell you. Turns out the district attorney made one too many deals with the local bad guys. They're coming in to trash his office and steal his files. No doubt they'll throw him in jail shortly thereafter."

Crap. Crap, crap, crap. That put McNorris in the line of fire too. She knew him well enough to know that while he wasn't involved with 'the bad guys' it didn't mean he hadn't done some morally questionable things in the past. He'd told her a few things, or more like hinted at them, for her to know he'd had a bad spell while he was still drinking. He regretted whatever it was he'd done, but that didn't undo it. This wasn't good. She'd have to figure out how to clear any wrongdoing out before the feds got here. "How long until they show up at my door? I need to baton down the hatches if you know what I mean." She asked casually.

"Three days. They'll be there Friday night."

That should be enough time to do what she had to do. "That should make work fun. Thanks for the heads up, Darren."

"No problem." There was another short pause. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay." She thought about that seriously. "Better than okay."

"Do you like it there?"

She answered him honestly. "Most days. I made some friends so I'm not so lonely anymore."

"I'm glad to hear that, cupcake. I've been worried about you."

She shrugged even though he couldn't see it. "I'm really doing good here. You don't need to worry."

"All right, but you know you can always call me, right?"

She smiled slightly. "I know. You're even better than the big brother I never had." And the man was. He had adopted himself into her family with an ease she wouldn't have thought possible even from a hacking con artist. She loved Darren like the sibling she had always wanted. It was good to know he cared about her the same way. She got back on point though. "Speaking of which, is this call going to be tracked, or later show up on my account?"

"Uh oh, someone's about to do something naughty. I recognize that tone and you wouldn't ask me to use my powers otherwise." She rolled her eyes. "I'll make sure nothing shows up. Don't get caught in whatever it is you're planning."

She made a noise of disbelief. "Get caught? Me?"

Darren laughed. "I wish I were there to see this. I love watching you outsmart people, even when it was me that was being outsmarted. Have fun playing with the suits."

She nearly laughed at the rogue. "Cross my heart. I'll confuse them just for you. It was nice talking to you."

"Ditto, Darcy. Call me soon so I know you're alive. Will you do that for me? I want to hear from you on Christmas."

She thought about that for a second. That was asking more than he knew, but she understood. He was her friend, hell he was part of her family, and if he had been the one to vanish she would worry too. "I'll do that."

She heard the happiness in his voice. "Excellent. I'll talk to you soon then."

"Soon." She agreed. The line clicked and he was gone. She held the phone away from her ear and starred at it for a few minutes. She was feeling a lot of things but none of them were as sharp or painful as they had been only a few months ago. She still hurt, and she was still really messed up, but she was stabilizing. She wasn't scared all the time anymore and she was returning to a more normal sleeping pattern.

Deciding that she didn't have enough time to contemplate her own feelings she put her phone back in her pocket and started her dryer. She had two more loads of clothes to do. That would give her plenty of time to plan her strategy.

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She was waiting for McNorris in their usual booth at the diner as her mind whirled busily. She had everything in place except the DDA now. All her pawns were aligned, her traps set, and her illusions painted to perfection. The attorney was the only wildcard in her carefully crafted plan and she was most worried about him in the fallout. She'd been thinking this over for the last two days and she'd planed her timing to the minute.

All she needed to do was get him somewhere so he would have an acceptable alibi. She could sense the FBI approaching. She had a hunch they would be getting here tonight. She just needed to make their story, the story they needed to have, look as real as possible. It wouldn't be hard, not with all the time they spent together, not with the way he'd been flirting with her the last few months. This should be easy really. She'd done all the hard stuff already.

She'd already gone through all his records to be sure he wasn't involved in anything. He wasn't the only sneaky bastard in this city, and he wasn't the only one that could break into someone else's house. It was easier than she had originally anticipated having never broken into a person's home before. The only hard part was breaking into the safe. That had taken her a good hour, a lot of cursing, and some guesswork at his combination, but in the end it had opened.

That had really been the smartest thing she'd done, opening that safe. McNorris had a few files hidden in there that were… well, questionable at the very best. They were going to talk about those later. She was sure he had no idea they were gone, and she had hidden them quite well. She'd also gone into his computers, the one at his home and the one at his work when he vanished for ten minutes to get something, and destroyed everything relating to those cases, no matter how small, and erased them from existence. Not even a forensic computer tech would be able to find them now. She silently thanked Darren for teaching her how to do that as she sipped her coffee.

A moment later and McNorris sat down across from her after speaking to the waitress at the counter. Setting a newspaper down he nodded to her. "Good morning."

"Morning." She stayed as casual as possible to be sure not to tip him off. One scent of unease and her well-crafted plan would blow up and he would be in a bad position. "I need a favor."

He raised an eyebrow as he unfolded his newspaper. "It was only a matter of time. What is it? Overdue speeding ticket?"

"It hurts that you think so little of me that I couldn't get out of a speeding ticket."

He smirked at her as the young waitress set his coffee and a bagel in front of him. "Thank you." The waitress smiled and wondered away to help another customer. They always got the same waitress. She figured the young woman called dibs on them after seeing the kinds of tips they both left for her. Neither of them complained though. She always got their orders right and out with amazing efficiency. "What do you want then?"

"Will you come with me to my office party?"

He didn't even hesitate as he picked up his cup. "No."

"Aww! Come on, ghost boy! Don't make me go by myself!"

"Take Hirsh."

She sent him a falsely aghast look. If she weren't trying to get him there to save him she would have happily taken Michael. She was sure he would have been great company at the party. "You want me to take your mortal enemy?"

"Ray is my mortal enemy. Maybe the two of them will off each other at the party." He smiled at the thought. "That would be a great Christmas present. Do that for me. Incite a fight. I know you can do it. If anyone can get stick in the mud Hirsch to go off it's you."

"Now you're being mean."

He disagreed with her assessment. "I'm being hopeful."

She pouted at him. That actually had him watching her over his paper. His eyes zeroed in on her bottom lip and she was amused with the male part of him. It was the part that so often let her win arguments with him. There was no shame in taking advantage of gender dynamics where the attorney was concerned. It was like her ace in the hole. "All right, you've had your fun with me. Will you please come? If you aren't there making fun of people I'll be bored out of my mind. Plus, I'm like, the only single person going."

"What about Travis?"

She scrunched her nose up in distaste. There was no fondness in her for the twitchy, and oily haired cop. The DDA knew she didn't like the man. "Okay, that's another reason for you to come. He's a creeper and he stares at me in a weird and off putting manner." McNorris bit back a laugh. "You scare him into submission. I've seen you do it in the past." She stroked his ego in an extra effort to have him comply.

"He is twitchy. I'm not looking forward to the day I have him in court. He'll shake off the seat while he's questioned." He shook his head. "What use will he be? And what kind of department hires a person like that? Does he even scare criminals or does he simply quiver so hard he goes off like an alarm so other cops will be alerted?"

She disregarded his rambling even though she found that idea really funny. She had more important things to focus on then his jokes this morning. "Please?"

He turned a page of the paper. "If you think it's going to be that unpleasant then don't go."

"Of all the people in the world I would think you would understand why I have to show up. This is political and you know it." If McNorris could understand anything it was office politics.

"Then you should definitely take Hirsh. Your co-workers actually like him."

"Did it occur to you that this might help you wiggle into the hearts of the detectives, with whom you work with closely?"

"No, because it won't. I'm not going."

Fine. Fuck it. She'd have to show him at least a few of her cards to save him from himself. Reaching across the table she grabbed his hand. Startled by the sudden contact he looked away from the paper and into her eyes. He knew something was going on as soon as he did. "You need to come with me to this party tonight. I'm asking you as a friend. Come with me."

He was quiet for a long few seconds. "Tell me why."

"No."

His eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

She hissed at him. "Christ almighty, David, for once would you please just trust me?"

He shook out of her grip and went back to the paper. "What time should I pick you up?"

She relaxed all over. "Seven."

"Fine." He turned the page and folded the paper crisply. "I better get to see you naked for this."

If nothing else, McNorris was persistent. "You say that anytime I ask you to do anything you know. Every time the answer is the same"

"By sheer chance once it'll change."

She went back to her coffee. "Pig."

"You can say that all you want, I know you want me." She huffed out a laugh and he raised an eyebrow as he scanned the paper. "I'll get you out of your clothes. It's only a matter of time."

"Your confidence astounds me."

"You mean it turns you on. I understand." She rolled her eyes and he smirked at her. "Relax, Darcy, I know you have to put up a decent fight. If you couldn't drive me to the brink of insanity trying to get into your pants what would the point be? You have to test me right?"

"Is that really what you think I'm doing? Putting you through some sort of sexually selective obstacle course to see if you're worthy?"

"I'm just a rat in your maze." He confirmed.

She started to laugh. "You're insane." The waitress came back with a to go cup of coffee for her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She answered before setting her bill down and walking away.

Shaking her head she gathered up her things. Ghost boy could pay for breakfast today. "Clearly, it's more logical to think I'm purposefully making you crazy as opposed to being uninterested in your increasingly sad attempts to woo me."

"Darcy, believe me, I have never been under the impression that women are logical animals."

"Okay." She stood up. "Now I think you're a pig and a chauvinistic bastard."

His eyes twinkled. "Don't pretend to go against your biological imperative."

Despite herself the scientific jargon got her to stop moving. "What?"

She saw smugness in his eyes when that got her to stay. "Women like older men that can provide for them the way men want young beautiful women to take home with them."

"That's an outdated-"

"It's in every biology textbook I've ever read, but fine, we'll put that aside and focus on you as an individual."

Torn between bemusement and exasperation she couldn't help but hear his attempts at profiling her and sat back down. "All right, I admit I'm listening. Try me."

His eyes glinted in satisfaction. "Well, you don't need help financially, but even if you did that wouldn't get you in bed with anyone. You're too damn proud for that."

"Pride and self-respect are two totally separate things."

He hummed before continuing. "All you really want is someone that can keep up with you mentally. No one your age is going to be able to do that. I'd bet my entire salary for this year that your husband was at least five years older than you were." Her eyebrow popped up in confirmation and he settled more comfortably into this role reversal as she gave him a point in his favor. She was so intrigued the mention of Jason didn't even bother her.

"While I find that an attractive feature it's hardly the only thing I'm after."

"Of course not. You want someone to talk to, which is unfortunate when you're so intent on not talking about whatever it is you need to talk about." Her amusement with this exercise faded instantly. She should have know better than to let him do this to her. McNorris was smart and he had been watching her work long enough to have gained some pointers. It didn't help that they spent so much time together. It also didn't help that she couldn't leave. If she did he would know not only how angry he'd just made her, or how true that was, but that she was terribly insecure. "I don't think I'm the only one at this table that wants to be understood, or the only one that's afraid the other might find them repulsive should their secrets slip."

She opened her mouth to say something but he pushed forward. "I know you want to feel safe at night and you don't. I don't think you feel safe in broad daylight. I don't think you know what safe really means anymore. I'm convinced you think it's a delusion you used to have, that you were never really safe, but so many people told you that you were that it made it seem real. Although, in retrospect, that fear's kept you alive, and through more than just a hostage situation in a courthouse." Her eyes flashed and he knew he was nearing something. But then… he veered away. "I think you like to be held, and touched, and cuddled, but you won't get close enough to anyone to let that happen either even though it would make you feel better. I think given the opportunity you're a hellcat in bed but you won't loosen up enough to let anyone get you there."

"I won't let you get me there you mean." She finally managed to throw something snarky back.

"No, you won't let anyone. I haven't seen you even look at a man since we met, not in an appreciative way, and I have to say we've passed a few that should have had your head turning if only to admire the view. You've convinced yourself that your platonic but you keep dressing yourself like the attractive young woman you are. Tell me, is it a habit to make yourself look the way you do, or are you trying to convince yourself of something?" Her jaw clenched and he eyed her. "But I don't think those scars on your back came with a sexual assault or you wouldn't get within ten feet of me, or let me tease you the way I do. You would have decked me the first time I got too close and I've invaded your space more than once without serious injury."

Okay, she'd had enough of this. "Are you done?"

"Almost." His eyes never left hers. "The scars aren't as bad as you think they are."

"What?" She snapped.

"They're not as bad as you think they are. You're making it worse in your head. If I hadn't seen you sprawled out in the sun in the middle of the day I wouldn't have noticed unless I was starring right at them. I bet they're even less noticeable now. They were still pretty new a year ago." Without a word she stood up. He reached across the table and grabbed her wrist before she could flee. "I'm not lying to you about that." His thumb grazed the soft skin of her wrist. He was apologetic all at once, as if he realized talking about the marks was a step too far to push, and it was. "I'll pick you up at seven."

She was a hairsbreadth away from telling him to go fuck himself before she realized why he had to come with her. He watched as she fought with herself for the briefest moment before her face cleared. She compartmentalized her emotions with more than a bit of a struggle, but she managed. She threw herself back into her normal personality. "I'll be ready to go. You can dress like a normal person for this."

"A normal person?" He asked as she shook out of his grip.

"Yeah, one that doesn't live in a suit. Do you own jeans or does your wardrobe consist of Armani and sweats?"

"I have jeans."

"Good to know you have some middle ground in your life. I have to go."

"Am I going to find out what this is about?" She didn't answer as she walked away. He made her think about herself far too much. In retribution she was leaving him in the dark to mull over what was going on.

Author Note: Happy Friday! I felt my joy over this needed to be shared by all.


	13. Slide: Month Thirteen

Disclaimer: I'm only here to play. I don't own anything.

**13. Slide –Month Thirteen**

The last few hours had been pretty exciting as far as she was concerned. They hadn't been at the Christmas party for more than thirty minutes before she spotted the first agent come in. He had weaved his way around the small hall that the department had rented out for the evening and stepped between Hicks and his wife. McNorris had noticed her attention shift away from him, and he followed her line of sight. She discreetly kicked the attorney under the table they were at to get him to act normal. He growled at her for bumping him and she figured it worked; cranky at a party like this was normal for him.

Lifting her hand she sipped at a beer to calm herself down as much as possible, as well as give her an excuse to avoid any legal questioning until she was a hundred percent sober. McNorris had a cup of punch, and had given her a suspicious look when she first walked over with the beer. After she found out he was an alcoholic she had refrained from drinking anything stronger than coffee in front of him. Not that he appeared to have a problem seeing other people drink, but he had noted her own dry stand as a point of solidarity with him. Seeing her with a beer had his alarms turning on as more strange behavior from her cropped up.

Fearless had wandered away from them not a minute ago and she could tell David was ready to ditch this place. He hadn't gotten the warmest welcome as he had predicted, although she really thought it could have been more frigid.

"Are we done here?" He asked impatiently.

"Not yet."

"Are you going to tell-"

"Shut up, McNorris." She said it with a smile after she gulped another mouthful of beer so no one would know they were fighting. No sooner had the words left her mouth then the real fun had started. Hicks had vanished with the man and all at once half the cell phones in the room went off. By that time she and McNorris were alone, at a table in the back corner, and she grabbed his hand as he pulled his phone out. "Don't panic."

"What?" He was on full alert as he looked at her. He'd already been revved up from their conversation this morning; he liked being in the dark as much as she liked living in L.A.

"I took care of everything." He went rigid and looked down at his caller ID. She saw it was his boss. Moving in slightly she whispered in his ear, making sure several people were watching her invade his space as she did so. She spoke quickly as he unconsciously bent his head down to make it easier for her to talk to him. "You've done nothing wrong, you never have, and they can't prove that you did. Don't go wherever it is he wants you to go. Tell him leaving right now would be bad. Stay here with me. You need to stay here."

He met her eyes as they hovered a few inches away from each other before he answered his phone and straightened up. "Yes?" She heard a strained voice on the other end of the line as she went back to her beer. McNorris frowned as he listened and watched her face. "No, I don't know anything about that." The voice rose and so did the DDA's eyebrow. Lifting his other hand discretely he made a sharp motion across his neck with his thumb, as if he were cutting it open.

She understood what he was asking. Ghost boy wanted to know if the DA was about to be executed. McNorris could catch up with a situation fast. She nodded ever so slightly and his eyes dilated. "I don't know what case you're talking about." The voice rose again and then became demanding. "I'm sorry, I can't leave right now. Fox had too much to drink and I need to take her home." She shot him an un-amused look. "I could be at the office first thing in the morning." She heard a loud answer and then the phone went dead.

"That went well." She commented as he shut the phone.

Before he could answer his phone went off a second time. With a muttered curse he answered it. "David McNorris." She finished off her beer as she watched him. This time she couldn't hear anything at all but his entire demeanor shifted. His back went stiff and he listened intently. After several seconds he spoke. "Yes, sir. I'll be there shortly." He hung up the phone and glanced around. "Can you get a ride home?"

Hadn't she just told him to stay here? He couldn't go running off when his office was being investigated. It would look bad. "Why?"

"Because the governor wants me in a meeting in twenty minutes." Oh, well that changed everything. He should probably go to that. He glanced down at his clothes. He was in a very nice pair of dark wash jeans and a button up dress shirt. For McNorris it was downright slovenly. She thought he looked pretty damn good truth be told. But then, she had always liked seeing a man in pair of jeans.

"You look fine, David."

"I'm in jeans." He hissed in annoyance.

"Well you don't have time to change so get over it. You can tell them you were here. I'm sure they'll ask. Isn't it nice that you have all these reliable witnesses to verify your alibi?"

His eyes narrowed. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry about it." She turned pushed him out of the chair. "Just go answer their questions with the firm conviction that you've done nothing wrong."

"God damn it, Darcy. I don't like you right now." The DDA had gone stiff as a board. She knew he was angry and afraid. "You're explaining this to me tomorrow." Then he was fast stepping it out of the hall. He vanished and she went in search of Joel and his family. She liked the man's wife, she was nice and their little boy was hilarious. She could deal with ghost boy tomorrow.

She settled in with the Steven's clan, as well as Fearless and his girlfriend, her daughter, and several other families, when her PDA beeped. She pulled it out of her purse as she relaxed and raised an eyebrow. The number wasn't listed, but as soon as she read the message she knew who it was from.

_I got all the docs u missed in ur clean up. Good try 4 a newby. U only missed 3 of them._

She replied quickly as Fearless told a joke to the kids. _I try 2 make u proud._

_U always do. BTW ur new friend's office and house r bugged. B aware._

God damn it. Why did everything have to be so difficult?

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She knocked on the attorney's front door the next day and waited. She had waited until Sunday afternoon to come over. She needed this to look normal, not forced, otherwise she would have been here at the crack of dawn. McNorris opened it a minute later and ushered her in. As soon as he shut the door he opened his mouth. She could tell he was wound up and pissed off.

"What's happeni-" She lunged up and kissed him to stop him from saying anything. The only reasonable plan she had come up with, that would look normal, slightly immoral but not illegal, and let her alibi him out of anything was to pretend they were sleeping together. Having a lover in the department would be a smudge on both their reputations so it would be logical to keep it a secret. No one was innocent of all wrongdoing, she needed to give them both some guilt that wouldn't get them thrown in prison. This was an easy and effective cover.

Grunting in shock he held her to him. He caught up to the situation fast and tightened his hold as he bent his head down to increase the contact. His hands flattened over her back and pressed her against him as he hummed in approval. How like him, mad as hell and horny as a dog. Good to know this was all it took to get him to shut up. She'd been going about this all wrong, she saw that now. Rolling her eyes at her severely sarcastic thought, she grabbed his face and pulled back. He was smirking at her with a triumphant gleam in his eye. "I knew you would-"

Shoving him forward she pushed him in front of his living room window and sent him a seductive smile as he stumbled. "Why do we always have to meet at your place?" Confused, he frowned. She mouthed words. "You're bugged."

His eyes widened and then he threw himself full force into the production. Leaning in he kissed his way down her neck as he backed them toward his sofa. "Because I don't want to get carjacked. You live in an awful neighborhood."

"I do not!" She protested. She didn't even have to pretend to be breathless. Damn he was good at this. She hadn't taken any time to consider that she might actually enjoy some part of this. She hadn't thought beyond getting him out of trouble. She miscalculated rather badly. Unfortunately, all she could do at this point was forge ahead and try to stay focused with his hands and mouth all over her. It hardly helped that no one had done anything remotely intimate to her in over a year. Her body was suddenly begging her for the release she had denied it for so long. She stomped on her libido viciously. "I want to go to my house for once. It isn't fair that I always have to get up early to go home and change. It's your turn."

"Is it?" His hands started roaming over her body and when one ran over her ass she pinched him hard as her hands slid under his jacket and out of sight of anyone watching. He removed his own hand quickly. "What do I get out of it?"

Smiling suggestively she reached up and pulled his tie out from under his vest. He must have been at the office already today if he was in a suit. Twisting it around her hand she tugged on it and brought his lips a millimeter from hers. "What exactly do you want, David?"

His hands rested on her hips as his voice lowered to a rumble. "I think you know what I want. In excruciating detail."

She purred at him, impressed with the wording. "I think I might be able to make that happen for you."

"In that case-" He moved so fast she didn't have time to playfully avoid the kiss. He held the back of her head and took full advantage of the position they were in. When this was over she was hitting him. For now she let herself enjoy the contact. Plundering her mouth he molded her against him as his free hand snuck under her jacket and ran up to her chest. When she bit his lip hard in retribution he squeezed her left breast once before letting her go and pulling back. His eyes were glittering with lustful satisfaction. "-let's go while we still have all our clothes on."

She skipped back and then pivoted. Flouncing away flirtatiously she called over her shoulder. "Maybe you should bring a pair of clothes with you this time. That way you can sleep in."

He understood she was giving him a way to have enough of his things for a couple days. He couldn't stay here if he were being monitored. "I'll meet you there then."

"I'll be waiting."

He smirked and she walked out of his house with utter confidence and a smug smile on her lips. As she pulled out of his driveway she caught sight of a flash of light from the upstairs window of the house across the street from his, a camera flash, or maybe light reflecting off a pair of binoculars. She didn't spend any time looking at it though. The last thing she needed was to let on that she knew they were there. What she did know was that they had seen and heard everything that just occurred in the house. Satisfied that her mission was a success, she drove off. McNorris would be at her condo soon. He would want answers and she owed him smack to the back of his head.

Twenty minutes later and McNorris walked in. The door shut and he came into the kitchen where she was making sandwiches. He was watching her as he tossed a sports bag and two of his suits, which were on hangers, over her dining room table. He came over to get one of the sandwiches, and as soon as he was in range she punched his arm. He jerked back as she glared. "The next time you grab me like that I'm lopping off your arm."

He shrugged without remorse as he sat at the counter. "You started it."

"To save your sorry ass."

He reached his limit. "What the hell is going on, Darcy? Did you call them?"

"No, I didn't call them. I'm crazy, but I'm not insane. I got a tip and started moving. You're lucky I had a couple of days and know what I'm doing."

"A tip from who?"

"A contact I'm not sharing with you." His eyebrows came together and she pulled out some chips. "The courthouse attack was too big for the feds to ignore, what with dead cops all over the place and two dead judges. It reeked of an inside job even from across the country. The FBI weren't the only ones that thought so either." She waved a hand at him. "You wouldn't have taken any of those files out of your office otherwise. You felt this coming, that or you knew what kind of deals the DA was making under the table."

He went stiff all over. "How do you know about those files?"

"I stole the hard copies three days ago and wiped the digital ones." She got out some water. "And your house? I mean really, are you getting old or what? That would be the second place they looked after trashing your office. You're better than that, ghost boy."

Most of the color had left his face and he truly resembled his nickname. "What-"

"Relax, I told you I took care of everything, all the ones that would get you in real trouble anyway. I left one or two that were morally questionable, but not technically illegal. If you look like one of your saints that'll tip them off. All you have to do is lay low for a couple of weeks while Conk get's thrown in jail. Do you think you can play good boy that long?"

She could tell he was fighting something inside his own head. "Yes." Then he leaned back a bit. "We'll be playing house then."

She sighed dramatically. "Yes, I worked that out too." Sitting next to him she took a bite of food and chewed thoughtfully.

"When did we start sleeping together then? This shouldn't be too hard to play up. We spend time together and everyone knows that. Half the department and my office thinks we're having an affair. The other half either doesn't care or thinks we will be eventually."

"Lovely."

"If nothing else changes your mind you should really let peer support sway you."

"You're incorrigible."

"I know."

"Two weeks ago then, after the courthouse thing. That would fit. I was distraught, you were grateful, comfort ran amok. Even someone who never took psychology would buy that. A detective would be all over it."

"That night then?"

"Yeah."

"How serious are we?"

She shrugged. "Not very. Fuck buddies. You don't do relationships and I'm not looking for one."

"That isn't true." He retorted.

She rolled her eyes. "For the purpose of our hypothetical affair let's say it is. Work with me here."

He gave in and started helping. "We need to run through the night to be sure our story is straight."

"Oh, good, talking about porn. This must be the best day you've had all week."

He smirked. "If we're sleeping together I need to know a few things about you."

"Yeah, that's why." There was no point in arguing with him about this. They did need to have details ready if they were targeted as being a problem. "The first time was on the couch. You were on top. The second time we managed to make it to the bedroom."

She could see he was fighting back glee over this whole situation. "You were on top that time. It's wrong to make me do all the work."

"Yeah, that's the wrong thing about this situation." She popped a chip in her mouth. "What's your favorite position?"

He started to chuckle and she waited for him to regain control. "That depends on the situation."

She looked at him in disbelief. "Come on. Everyone has a tried and true favorite."

"Really? What's yours?"

"Doggy style."

"I wouldn't have guessed that." His eyes were glittering and she knew he was enjoying himself. "You seem like you would like to be on top."

"Excellent. Glad you shared that. Now, favorite position."

"With you-"

"In general!" She snapped.

"Butterfly."

"How fanciful."

He just laughed some more as he took a drink. "This is the most fun I've had in as long as I can remember."

"Yippy. Do you have any birth marks?"

"No, I have a scar though. I had to get my appendix out when I was twelve."

"All right."

"Do you have anything other than the scars on your back?"

"No." She answered without emotion.

He nodded. "Ticklish areas?"

She was glad he'd moved away from that quickly. "Ribs."

"Behind my knees."

She raised an eyebrow. "That's a weird place to be ticklish."

He ignored that. "Anything else I need to know?"

"Umm…" She thought about that. "I don't think so. You?"

He hummed. "One more thing." He turned and grabbed her quickly. Yanking her to him he slammed his lips over hers. She went stiff and he pulled away long enough to mumble. "They're watching from out back. I can see them past the fence."

Cursing internally she let him hold her and he dragged her between his legs. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he tangled one of his hands in her hair. He plundered her mouth possessively as his thumb ran up under her shirt and circled her skin. She started to go hazy and relaxed into him. He felt it and smiled against her lips. Realizing what was happening she murmured. "We need to get away from the window."

He kissed the side of her mouth and then began to nibble his way down her jaw. "It's fine."

She didn't think it was fine at all. "We're being peeped on."

He sucked on her neck and she shuddered. "Well, not really."

"What?" She asked distractedly, her skin was tingling and her heart was racing.

"I can't actually see past the fence." He murmured as he bumped his nose against the collar of her shirt. His hand slid higher up her skin, settling flat against her abdomen, his thumb running in a teasing circle near the top of her pants. "But isn't this fun?" Comprehension that he had tricked her dawned and she jerked away from him. He tried to drag her back. "Hey, hey, hey, don't go."

She punched his shoulder, really hard. He yelped as she glared at him. "You're a rat bastard."

He grinned charmingly. "And you taste like mint and apricots." She continued to glare at him. "Oh, lighten up."

"Don't do that again." She snapped in annoyance.

He tilted his head. "Why? You enjoyed it."

"I don't enjoy being tricked." She snapped.

"But you did enjoy the other part?" He asked innocently. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. It was going to be a long couple of days.

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It wasn't until the third night McNorris slept over that he realized her sleeping pattern was far from normal. The first night she had slept pretty well. It had been one of her good nights. Between her therapy, which was working better than she ever could have imagined, and the adrenaline crash it had been enough to keep her asleep for seven hours. After that the stress of knowing she was constantly being monitored had her back on edge. She was uptight, her back hurt, and the anxiety was enhancing her already bad habits.

The FBI was out in the open now and everyone knew what was going on. The DA's office was being swept, all the precincts were being swept, the union was being swept, and IA was being swept. She had actually had to move nearly all her files to safes to protect them. She wasn't about to let the agents see personal files, not when she was legally obligated to keep them confidential. She had a flat out smack down with three of the agents over that. They had threatened jail time and she had told them they could kiss their own asses. Until she saw a warrant nothing was leaving her office and no one was getting into her assessments. She certainly hadn't made any new friends over the last few days and she was wound up.

The second night she had woken up with a start after two hours. McNorris was the average sleeper, so as long as she stayed still, which she usually did to let her body rest, everything was fine. But the third night was worse. She had one of her nightmares and was in a cold sweat when she jerked awake with a gasp. All she could be thankful for was that the small noise hadn't woken McNorris up. He had simply turned over in his sleep and gone still.

Creeping out of bed she retreated to her kitchen and pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge. Clutching at it, she pressed her back into the corner where two of her cabinets met and tried to relax. It was easier with something solid at her back. Twenty minutes later and all she could say was that her heart rate was down slightly. It leapt back up when McNorris stepped out of the shadowed doorway. "Darcy?"

She jumped and the bottle crackled in her hand. "Jesus!" She sucked in a breath and scrambled to her feet. "Why are you creeping around in the dark?" She was snapping unhappily, her fear causing her to react more strongly than she normally would.

The sleep-tousled attorney eyed her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I was thirsty."

He edged closer and took the water bottle. It was still closed. "That explains why you haven't had anything to drink." He snapped the top open with a quick twist and handed it to her. She took it back with a nod and took a sip of the still cool liquid. His hand came up and ran over the side of her face. She jerked away but it didn't deter him. "You're sweating."

"I'm hot."

"No, you're clammy. Are you sick again?"

"No."

He looked her over critically. "Did you have a nightmare?"

She closed the bottle and watched it instead of him as she did. "It's nothing. I'm sorry I woke you up."

"It's fine." Turning slightly he tried to coax her back toward the bedroom. "Let's go back to sleep."

She shrugged him off. There wouldn't be anymore sleeping for her tonight. There was only one thing that would help at all. "I'm going to go for a run. I'll be back later."

"It's two in the morning."

"So?"

"So it isn't safe to run at this time of night."

She headed down the hall with him trailing her. She needed to change and get her running shoes. "I run at night all the time."

"Which is why you got jumped by a psychopath-" She shut the door to her room and locked it with a click. He growled on the other side and she ignored him as she changed into her running clothes quickly. "Darcy!" He banged. "Open the door!" She let him rant as she slipped her shoes on and tied them tightly. When she was done she opened the door and he was glaring at her. "This isn't safe!"

"Would you leave me alone?" She asked as she brushed past him.

She headed toward the front door, pausing to grab a hair band out of her bathroom as she went. She was putting it on to keep her short hair out of her face when he grabbed her arm. He spun her around. "Would you stop?" He asked. "I'll get you a treadmill tomorrow-"

She jerked out of his grasp and pushed him away from her. Rage bubbled up in her so fast she couldn't control it. "Back the hell off!" He shut his mouth and went wary at her sudden turn from disinterest in his argument to all out hostility. "I don't want a fucking treadmill! I didn't let you stay here so you could get comfortable! You don't get a say in what I do or where I go! The only reason you're here right now is because the FBI would have thrown your sorry ass in jail! That's it! You should be fucking grateful you aren't someone's bitch right now! So either go back to sleep or get the fuck out!"

Instead of fighting back he went passive. It both freaked her out and had her temper screaming for something to lash out at. When didn't he want to argue with her? What the hell was wrong with him? "At least let me run with you."

"I don't want company!"

His eyes flickered with worry as she spun around. "Will you take your cell phone?"

Saying nothing, she snatched it out of her purse, clipped it to her shorts, and walked out the door, slamming it closed behind her. It took her two hours of solid running to wear herself down enough that she would be able to function again. Dragging herself back inside she expected David to be long gone. Instead, his car was still in the driveway. Too tired to care she staggered into her bedroom and spotted him sleeping. Taking out a clean set of pj's she locked herself in the bathroom and took a hot shower.

When she was dressed she left her brief haven and collapsed on the bed with her back to him. Laying there as she tried to stabilize she felt his hand snake carefully over her stomach. She half snarled at him but he dragged her over the space between them and tossed the blanket over her with his other arm. "Easy, I don't want to fight." His voice was rough with sleep. "I didn't mean to upset you. You can do whatever you want to do." She muttered incoherently under her breath. "I was worried about you. I want you to be safe. That's all."

"I'm fine."

"I can see that. Let's just go back to sleep."

"Fine."

"Okay."

They fell asleep in a kind of silent truce and she was up two hours later, half an hour before her alarm went off. The predawn darkness filled the room and she slipped out from under David's arm, slightly hating him for somehow getting her to snuggle. Letting the anger go she shut herself in the bathroom and brushed her teeth quietly. When she was done she slipped out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. She started the coffeepot as soon as she was there and went about her morning routine as her mind fought with itself.

Getting out two of her overly colorful coffee cups she got out the sugar and creamer and waited. Five minutes later and the pot beeped. Dragging it off the burner she filled her mug and stirred in the creamer and sweetener quickly. As she took her first few sips McNorris walked in with rumpled hair and a sleep tousled clothes. He glanced at her briefly as she stepped out of the way and then filled his own mug with black coffee. "Good morning." He said gravely.

"Morning." She responded as she set her mug down and started digging around for food. She emerged with a box of cereal and set it on the counter, then she dug out her soymilk. She was searching for a bowl when he decided to piss her off all over again.

"How often do you do that?"

"Go to hell, David." She responded. The small appetite she had was gone in a second and she simply left everything on the counter except her coffee. Grabbing it she went to her bedroom to get dressed. She started chugging the hot liquid as she went and she knew damn well it was a reaction to her anxiety. She could already feel a chill and it only made her angrier.

Twenty minutes later and she had calmed herself to a point as she got ready for the day. Realizing she was exhausted and she needed more coffee she abandoned her room and headed back to the kitchen when she was dressed. David was flipping some eggs in a pan. He glanced over at her as she got more coffee. "Do you want some eggs?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Then why did you get out the cereal?"

"Force of habit." She said without emotion. "I'm leaving. I'll see you tonight."

"Darcy, wait a second." Reaching out he caught her wrist. She sent him such a hateful look that he let her go. "Look, you aren't the only one that's fucked up here." She twitched and he continued. "If you don't want to talk about this that's fine. I told you I don't want to fight. But let's eat breakfast. You only slept about three hours. You're going to get sick if all you have is coffee."

They stared at each other for a long time. Finally, she gave in. "Fine."

"Do you want toast?" She nodded jerkily and he turned back to the stove. They ate breakfast silently and she tried to ignore him watching her. She didn't like what she saw in his eyes because she knew what it was. Jason had looked at her like that often enough for her to recognize it. She hadn't come to L.A. to screw up someone else's life again. She should have kept her distance.


	14. Turf: Month Fourteen

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**14. Turf -Month Fourteen**

"Joel!" She called to him as she shoved through the mass of cops milling around the station. "Where's the kid?"

"I don't know." The detective was clearly upset by this as he walked around bent over looking under desks. "I know better than to let an eight year old out of my sight."

"But he was here?" She asked to be sure as she started searching with him.

"Yes. The phone rang and when I hung up he was gone."

She glanced around thoughtfully. There were too many eyes in here for him to just waltz out the front door. Plus, there were two security doors and bulletproof glass between where they were and the exit. "He can't have gotten that far. Someone would have stopped him from leaving."

"If you can find him more power to you." He muttered as he moved toward the nearest of the offices.

She followed the detective's rather erratic search pattern. For a cop he wasn't very good at making a grid. Didn't they teach that at the academy or something? "Where did you and Tom find him?"

"Some sicko had him locked in a basement."

She flinched and nodded. "What's his name?"

Joel abandoned the first office and moved the next quickly. "Tony. Kids like to curl up in hiding places. He's probably under a desk somewhere, maybe in a closet, or behind a filing cabinet."

"I doubt it." She muttered as she headed toward the left. The last place anyone that was locked up in a dark basement would want to be was somewhere small, cramped, and smelly. She didn't care how old he was, the boy would want out of this building as fast as possible regardless of the direction he would have to take. Considering the floor plan of the building, and the spot he had vanished from, she headed toward the elevators. Someone would have noticed him in there too, but the stairway was a totally different matter. No one ever used the stairs here, except the health nuts.

When she opened the stairwell door she smacked into the DDA. Of course he would be in the most inconvenient place possible. She'd been trying to shake the man for the last two weeks. The second the FBI vanished, along with a cuffed and soon to be jailed Conk, she had kicked him out of her house with all the grace and decorum of Attila the Hun.

He had been trying to wiggle his way back in with her ever since. He knew when it all went wrong, not that she had been subtle about where her breaking point was, but he wasn't clear on why. She didn't give him the chance to work it out. He was booked solid through the weekdays trying to keep his job and get ahead at the same time at his own office, what with a sudden opening in upper management, and she wasn't around when he had free time. The last two weekends she'd vanished, hightailed it, and otherwise escaped L.A. from the time she left the office on Friday afternoon to the time she had to be back Monday morning.

She hadn't had the worst time either. The first weekend she made it to wine country and gone on a tour. She'd gotten several bottles of very good desert wine she stored in the back of her pantry along with a free meal from another single she met while she was there. It hadn't gone past dinner, and she had never wanted it to, but the man had been good enough company even if she would never see him again.

The second weekend she made it up to San Francisco. That had been fun. The city was crazy fun and the atmosphere was so much better than L.A.'s. It was laid back and artsy. The trolleys kept her occupied for hours and she had some of the best seafood she'd ever tasted at a little hole in the wall restaurant down on the bay. She had liked going down to see all the seals too. Maybe she would go back again soon. But for now she was trying to figure out where to go in two hours when her workweek ended again. She had a sneaking suspicion the DDA was hatching some sort of plan to head her off at the pass. He was frustrated with her disappearing act, and even breaking into her house wasn't getting him anywhere. No doubt that was why he was at the department to begin with.

But even if she was giving him the slip whenever possible it didn't mean she should be rude. "Sorry, McNorris." She brushed past him and started up the stairs quickly.

"Where are you going?" He asked as he changed direction at the turn of a dime and started tailing her.

"The roof."

"Any reason?"

"Yeah." Without further discussion she sped up the stairs. Two flights later and she knew two things. She was on the right trail, there was a new candy bar wrapper on the steps with small chocolate fingerprints on the outside, and McNorris was tired of her escaping him. Opening the door to the roof she blinked as the sun hit her in the eyes and stepped out onto a rickety landing. Once she could see she walked down the five steps and onto the questionably safe gravel strewn cement.

"What are we doing?" He asked as he glanced around.

"You're stalking me and I'm looking for an eight year old boy."

"Why is there a boy up here?"

"Because he's scared and afraid of being inside."

"That really doesn't explain-"

"Shush." He closed his mouth in annoyance as she glanced around the roof. There was some displaced gravel to the left. Heading in that direction she called for the boy in her most gentle tone. "Tony? Are you up here?" There wasn't any response and she went slowly, tracking him. "Tony? No one is going to hurt you, I promise. We just want to be sure you're okay."

McNorris had circled out to her left and was looking under an overhang made by part of the layered tiles of the roof. They continued to search and she was glancing over the edge at the fire escape. Hopefully, the little boy hadn't shimmied down. They really needed to have a lock on the door up here. This simply wasn't safe.

"Darcy." The DDA's voice was softer than she'd ever heard it and she hurried over to him as he crouched down next to the end of the large metal box that housed the air conditioning unit. He turned his attention to something she couldn't see. "Are you Tony?" He asked it in a reassuring and friendly voice.

She spotted the small boy as he scrambled as far into the corner he had found as he could. The boy, who looked dehydrated, hungry, and dirty, started crying the second he spotted McNorris. Pulling on the back of the attorney's jacket she pointed behind her as she leaned down and whispered in his ear. "He's afraid of men. Back off a little." He slid back, nearly out of sight, as she took the place he had vacated. "Hi, Tony. I'm Darcy. Everyone downstairs is real worried about you."

He cried into his arms and shook his head. His dark curls swayed with his the force of it. She continued to coo at him, getting closer in as unthreatening a manner as possible. It helped her cause that she was female and in a more feminine outfit. Right now that wouldn't scare the poor boy as much. "Was it too dark inside?" He nodded and she took a small step closer. "I know what that's like. When the walls start to close in."

"Really?" His voice was muffled in his dirty shirt.

"Really." She edged toward him, getting on her knees so they were closer to the same level. It was worth ruining her pantyhose for this. "It's always better in the sunshine isn't it?"

"It was dark."

"I know." She whispered.

"He hurt me."

She swallowed as her own mouth went dry. "I know he did, buddy."

"I don't want to go inside."

"You don't have to." She assured him. It was perfectly fine with her if he stayed out here. All she wanted was to know where he was. He sniffed and nodded. "Can I sit with you? That way no will worry or make you go somewhere you don't want to go." He nodded again and she eased down next to him, being careful not to touch him.

"Why is he here?" The boy asked nervously as he pointed to the attorney.

McNorris raised an eyebrow and she did her best not to succumb to the impulse to reach out and brush the child's hair out of his eyes. "He was worried about you too."

"He looks bad." She supposed, at this moment, every man looked bad to Tony.

She was sure if this had been a grown person and not a terrified little boy McNorris would have started puffing up. "He's not bad. He just doesn't have any skin pigmentation like a normal person." She received a glare from McNorris and a big, brown-eyed stare from Tony. She smiled at the boy softly. "I promise he won't hurt you."

With a sniff the boy uncurled himself and crawled into her lap without warning. She let him settle himself and wrapped her arms around his back as he hugged her neck tightly. She ran her hand over his matted hair as she leaned into the warm metal. Cradling the little boy easily she felt him shaking and tried to get him to calm down. Considering what he'd been through she knew that was asking a lot. So she didn't ask Tony to do anything. She let him react the way he would react. She could feel McNorris' eyes on her but didn't bother to acknowledge him. "Do you live with your mom and dad?"

"My mom." He answered.

She rubbed his shoulder. "Do you know your phone number?"

"Uh huh."

Reaching into her pocket she pulled her cell phone out. "Can you tell me so I can call her?"

With a nod he mumbled the number into her neck and she typed it in quickly. A woman answered on the first ring. "Hello?" She could hear the near panic in the woman's voice.

"Hello, this is Darcy Fox from the Los Angeles Police Department."

Her voice cracked terribly. "Did you find Tony?"

"Yes, mam. He's with me right now."

"Is he all right?"

There was no need to send her into a panic before she got here. "Yes, do you want to talk to him?" The woman let out a strangled sob. She tried to rein the woman in. "He's a little upset."

The woman got the hint and pulled herself together. "I understand." Her voice was soft even if she heard the quiver in it. "Let me talk to my son."

"Hold on." She handed the phone to the boy and he took it.

"Mommy?"

I heard her muffled words and waited patiently as they spoke. She continued to rub the boys back as he clutched at her PDA and he sniffed as he listened to his mother talk. Five minutes later and McNorris was standing guard quietly and Tony held the phone up to her. "Mom wants to talk to you."

She took the phone with a smile and held it to her ear. "Yes?"

"Please, can you give me the address?"

"Where are you? I'll have someone come pick you up. You don't need to be driving." The woman gave her address quickly and she memorized it. Promising to have someone get her soon she hung up and glanced up at the attorney. "Would you go tell Joel where we are and where to go get his mother?"

He nodded. "Will you be all right up here?"

"I think so." She ran her hand over Tony's hair as he hid himself against her. "Are you hungry or thirsty?"

"Thirsty."

"Some water would be nice."

"Okay." He agreed. "I'll get some."

He turned to leave and she called to him. "McNorris?" He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Tell them one at a time up here." She didn't want Tony feeling closed in. The DDA nodded sharply and she heard the gravel crunch under his shoes as he walked away.

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It had been a bad day. Unlocking her door she shoved it open and dropped her bag carelessly to the floor next to her entryway rug. Kicking off her shoes she decided she needed a drink. No, she needed more than one drink; she needed a whole lot of drinks. She felt she was due to get shit faced drunk. Fortunately, she had a bottle of tequila shoved in the far corner of her pantry, along with her new wine, for just such a day as today.

Heading straight for the bottle she pulled it out and opened it quickly. Searching around for a glass she found the smallest one she had, she didn't have any shot glasses, and filled the bottom with a good-sized amount. Picking it up, she downed the liquid in a go. As she coughed slightly she headed to her room to change. Three minutes later and she was in her favorite pair of jeans and the most comfortable t-shirt she owned, Pavlo was back in the game. Barefoot and happy about it she returned to the liquor and poured herself another large shot. She had every intention of forgetting the last twelve hours. At least for awhile.

When she hit her fourth shot she sank to the floor taking the bottle and the glass with her. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd been drunk. It must have been at least three or four years. Running her hand through her hair she heard her front door open and laughed quietly as McNorris called to her. Of course he would be here now. Where else would he be but here to harass her? "Darcy?"

She pretended to be an answering machine in the hopes he would leave a message and go, or maybe call back later. "I'm not in right now. Leave your name and number and I'll return your call at a later time." She heard footsteps approaching and tossed down her fifth shot. He came around her counter and she swallowed as she pointed back the way he had come. "You shouldn't be here right now. No tequila for you, sorry."

Instead of leaving he sat kitty corner to her in his nice suit and she hoped she had mopped recently. She couldn't remember if she had right now. "I do have some self control."

"Good for you." She poured herself more, spilling a bit on the tile next to her hip. She was getting unsteady as a haze settled over her.

"How much have you had?"

"Hmm." She glanced at the bottle critically. "Well, I still know who both of us are, so not nearly enough."

"You're going to get sick." He remarked as if commenting on the weather.

"That's fine." She threw the shot back like it was water. "I already feel sick. I might as well be sick. Aligning the mental with the physical, big psychology thing."

"Rough day?"

"How'd you guess?" She poured some more.

"What about it bothered you?"

She swallowed the liquor. "I'm not talking about this."

"Another shot or two and you will."

"Another shot or two and I'll be dead or unconscious." She shouldn't have said that. He snatched the bottle, and in her tipsy state she was too slow to get her hands on it. "Give it back." She demanded.

"No." He sat it on his other side where she had no chance of getting her hands on it unless she crawled over him. "Was it the boy?"

"You know I'm smarter than you are." He shook his head and she laughed breathily. "You can't catch me in your web, ghost boy. I'm too good."

"You're not as smart as you think you are."

She laughed again. "Yes, I am." She let her head fall back against her cabinet. "Although I admit you're a lot closer to my level than anyone else I've met in a long time." She looked over at him. "I didn't think you were until McGee vanished. That was brilliant."

His head reared up. "What?"

Normally she never would have let on that she caught him helping someone. Five months ago he had done something that was both brave and dangerous, and not to protect his own ass. He had done something truly good for a complete stranger. She figured the young man's background, which was a mirror of his own, had prompted the deed. That didn't make it less impressive in her opinion. "The double blind with the guy you put in protective custody? I mean, really good. I'm not just saying that. When I figured it out I think my jaw dropped. Beautifully executed. I was worried about Hicks and Ray though. I thought they were onto you for sure." She shook her head as she made another grab for the tequila. McNorris simply held it out of her reach the way you would a cookie from a three year old. "Ray does track you with rather disturbing intensity. Seriously, what the hell did you do to him before I got here?"

He didn't answer her question. "They weren't even in the station when I came in."

"Nope."

He was quiet for a second. "You made sure they were gone?"

"Like your luck is that good." She sighed. "That was the one thing you couldn't manipulate. I put in a false tip to get Ray to leave and dragged Hicks into an impromptu meeting. It's not that hard to distract people at my place of business."

"You blocked Hicks for me?"

She was pretty sure she'd admitted to that not a second ago. "Duh."

"Why?" He was staring at her.

"Because the justice system can really suck sometimes." She tapped the glass with one of her nails as she gave up on getting the bottle. It made a nice pinging sound as her nail hit it just right. "If you hadn't gotten that guy out he would have been killed because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I honestly didn't think you had the balls to do that."

"Excuse me?" He seemed miffed that she thought he was less than manly in his pursuits, even if she wasn't supposed to know about them.

"You put your neck on the line and for what? Possible jail time? After your little, 'I'm my father speech' I figured you would only do that to get something."

"Who says I didn't get something?"

"Other than a warm fuzzy feeling? You didn't get anything. McGee had no connections to anyone other than the people he pissed off and even they couldn't do anything for you if you handed him over."

"You don't know-"

"Yes, I do. I have you worked out now. It took me awhile but I've got you. You were a puzzle."

"What exactly have you worked out?" He asked suspiciously.

"You. I think I said that."

"I don't think I like you."

That sent her into a fit of laughter. When she settled down she wiped the tears from her eyes. That was the biggest lie he'd ever uttered in her presence. Too bad it was a lie. "Yes, you do. It might drive you crazy but you do."

"What makes you think that?"

"You keep breaking into my house. You wouldn't do that unless you liked me." She wagged her finger at him. "And you come looking for a fight. I challenge you. You love that."

"You keep letting me break in."

She shrugged. "Everyone needs a hobby."

"What's yours?"

"Dealing with you."

He rolled his eyes. "And before we met?"

"I didn't exist before we met."

"You didn't exist?"

"Nope." Twisting, she laid down on her kitchen floor. She wondered why she so often ended up on the floor when he was at her house. "I'm done with you. Leave me alone so I can sleep."

"On the floor?"

"Why not? It's a perfectly good floor."

"It's hard tile."

"It's fine." He got to his feet and bent down. Wrapping his arms around her waist he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. "Hey!"

He wasn't deterred by her indignation. He held her securely as he headed toward her bedroom. "Where have you been vanishing to?"

"What?"

"Baby doll, you're drunk, not stupid. Where have you been going?"

"Other places."

He snorted as he made it to her bedside and flipped her carefully over before setting her on the bed. "Tired of L.A.?"

"I don't like L.A., ghost boy." Her room rocked oddly and she squinted. "I went elsewhere."

"You don't?"

"No." She twisted around and crawled over toward her pillow. A moment later and she was laying on her stomach with the pillow under her arm. She thought that wasn't entirely how things were supposed to be but she was comfortable and didn't care. A second later David sat down next her side and brushed his hand over her cheek, pushing her hair out of her face.

"Why don't you like L.A.?"

"Too big. I grew up in the burbs. I don't like all the chaos all the time."

"So you went to the suburbs to escape?"

"No."

He sighed as she continued to avoid his question. She was sure he was frustrated he couldn't even get a straight answer out of her when she was drunk. "Is there somewhere else you want to live?"

"Not really."

"Not really, but you hate this city?"

"McNorris, it doesn't matter." She mumbled. "It's only a place. It doesn't make a difference."

"It obviously does." His hand moved to her shoulders and rubbed easy circles over her. He was quiet for a minute. "You haven't had a break since you started working here. Maybe you should go home for a visit. Would that make you feel better?"

A tear slipped down her cheek before she knew what was happening and she turned her head away. "No, that wouldn't make me feel better." She whispered.

"What would make you feel better?"

She almost told him that him leaving her alone would do the trick but that rang of deceit even in her own head. It wasn't his fault that she was screwed up. It wasn't his fault she had gotten involved in his life when he never asked to be befriended. It wasn't his fault she was drawn to him the same way he was drawn to her. Like found like. That was just how it worked. They were both pretty messed up. She shook her head in confusion as she really considered his question. It had been so long since she'd really felt comfortable and safe that she wasn't sure what it was that she needed to feel better, or if it was even possible for those old things to make her happy now. She wasn't the same person she used to be.

"I don't know." She finally answered. His hand ran firmly down her spine. "I'm lonely. I don't like being by myself all the time."

His voice was easy and soothing in the darkness of her room. The warm hand on her back was lulling her as well as his words. "You aren't by yourself right now."

His voice was soft and coaxing, and with the tequila in her system she wasn't thinking clearly. He sounded trustworthy, so in her addled mind he was. "I am. I get stuck in my head." A shudder tore down her as the shadows in her mind grasped at her. "I can't ever get out. I used to like that but now I don't know how to make it stop. I never learned how to get out so I wasn't by myself."

She wasn't sure any of that made sense but he nudged her to the side to make room. A second later and he was stretched out beside her on the bed. He kicked off his shoes and she heard them thunk onto the floor. His arm looped over her back as he set his chin over her head. "I understand that. It's like a CD that's on replay. It goes around and around and never stops." She nodded in agreement, somewhat amazed that he really did get what she was trying to say. "We just need to find what your eject button is. Then you might at least get to change the soundtrack before you start spinning around again."

"That's a silly metaphor."

"But it's true." He kissed the top of her head. "We can work on that after you've slept a little." He reached up and ran his hand over her hair. "Are you tired?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." He pulled the blanket up over her and tucked it around her body before going back to running his hand through her hair. "Then you sleep." She shook her head. The last thing she wanted to do was sleep. "Are you afraid of the nightmares?" He asked gently. She nodded and he pulled her closer to him. A moment later and he had her bundled up form pressed against him and her head was tucked in the spot between his neck and his shoulder. "They aren't real, Darcy. We're real. This bed is real. This house is real. The hangover you're going to have in a few hours is real. Hold onto the real things."

"It's not that easy."

"No, but that's what you need to do." He rubbed her back. "You don't need to do it by yourself either. Go to sleep. The dreams won't bother you tonight." Shaking her head slightly in disbelief she closed her eyes. She was pretty sure he was wrong about that but honestly didn't think she could keep her eyes open much longer. Sure enough, she was out a few minutes later.


	15. Accord: Month Fifteen

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**15. Accord –Month Fifteen**

She showed up at his office with the paperwork he asked for and enough take out for five people. He smiled slightly when she set all of it on his desk in a lumpy pile. The bags covered at least half of his workspace and he'd had to snatch several files out of the way lest they get covered in the grease he could see pooling on the bottom of the paper bags. She didn't know why he had to be such a spoilsport. There were worse things for paperwork to smell like than enchiladas, but hey, to each their own. If McNorris wanted his reports to smell like regular paper that was his business.

She sat down feeling pretty good considering how long her day had been and started digging around in the bags. The last two weeks had been markedly better than the ones preceding them. The night she'd gone and gotten herself trashed had some unforeseen consequences. McNorris, after waking up with her under his arm and still snoozing, had left her alone in bed to make her breakfast. She'd woken up to the smell of eggs and sausage. The man had an odd fondness for breakfast foods at any time of the day so she wasn't surprised by his choice. He'd practically force fed her, telling her protein was supposedly good for her blinding headache and churning stomach before vanishing to let her work through the rest of the pain by herself. She appreciated his understanding in the matter, namely her wanting to moan and curse herself in private.

When he came back that evening, and she felt better about life, he'd brought a Monopoly board with him. That had confused her so badly she'd simply stood in the doorway to her kitchen watching him set up the game for a good two minutes before he told her she was going to be the banker. When she frowned at that he pulled out a chair and plunked it down to indicate where she should be sitting. "You can't play from over there."

Her eyebrows came together. "What's happening right now?"

"We're going to play Monopoly."

"Ummm… why?"

"Because it's the only board game I own. Sit."

She didn't move. "I don't understand."

"I thought you needed to get out of your head?" She flinched at that. She had been hoping they would silently agree never to mention that again. One look at the attorney and she knew he had no intention of letting that lie. "That means you have to be able to think about things that don't revolve around work, criminals, or violent behavior. So sit."

With a small sigh she sat and he followed her after getting them some drinks. When he eased himself down he found her poking at the game pieces curiously. "Why is there a shoe?" She glanced over the board. She was wondering where the piece went. "And is this an iron, like, for clothes?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Those are the game pieces. We each pick one to represent us. Haven't you played this before?"

"I wanted to once but my mom told me I shouldn't strive to follow a capitalistic agenda, and any game that promoted that only showed how ingrained the economic ideal was imbedded within western culture."

There was a brief moment of silence before ghost boy snorted. "Are you serious?"

"Yes." She moved from the odd assortment of silver figurines to the colorful paper money. She rather liked the pink slips of paper. She found them amusing. "She'd never let me play chess or that other game with the world map either." She fought for the name. "The one with all the armies?"

"Risk?"

"Yeah, that one. She told me world conquest was for power hungry dictators. Then she taught me about world war two via a long series of historical novels and five documentaries. I'm still not sure how that relates to chess unless she was associating the black king with Hitler, and really if that's the case who was the queen? Stalin? And what did that make the white king for that matter? Which one of the allied commanders was it? And if that's the case it really brings up a whole other issue about our thoughts on color association in this country." She went back to the silver figures; they were by far the most interesting things to look at. They were shiny. "At any rate that one didn't stick. I learned to play chess in high school. That is a wicked fun game. Can I be the thimble?"

McNorris shook his head slightly as her rambling ended. "Yes, you can be the thimble."

She smiled happily and picked it up as she crossed her legs under her. She was pleased that he didn't want that one. It was all cute and stuff, although she wouldn't have been totally opposed to being the dog. "Cool."

"How old were you?"

"When?"

"When she wouldn't let you play Monopoly."

"Five."

"And when she made you read all those books?"

"Seven I think."

"Darcy, who was your mother?"

Her lip twitched. She wouldn't deny that her mother was rather eccentric. Still, she had been a good parent. "I guess I made that sound worse than it really was. I was hard to handle when I was little. My teachers didn't know what to do with me. I was bored all the time and I got in trouble. If she hadn't given me stuff like that to do I probably would have been in juve by the time I was ten."

"So you never played any board games with your brothers and sisters? What did you do for fun?"

Wrong assumption there. It was one of the few the attorney had ever made that she knew of. "I'm an only child."

"You don't have siblings?"

"Nope, unlike some people who have five." She smiled at him. "What was that like?"

"Chaotic." He answered without hesitation. He seemed at a loss over this new information on her and turned his attention on explaining the game. He was surprisingly patient with her and she had a good time learning. He must have noticed because suddenly they were having game night every few days. He even bought Risk so she could try that. He had walloped her at that game but it had been fun anyway, especially when she tried to draw up a treaty in lieu of getting overrun by the orange armies that were trying to take over South America, her last stronghold on the map. Ghost boy had turned down her very fair terms and crushed her rather brutally.

And so, slowly and patiently, he had worked his way back into her house and gotten her to lower her guard back down. The man was patient, persistent, and sneaky enough to do it in a way that she was both aware of what was going on but relaxed enough not to care. It was rather amazing considering how much she had wanted him gone not fifteen days ago. Maybe he really was smarter than her. Not that she would ever let him know that thought ever crossed her mind but still, now she was the one getting paranoid.

Contemplating the fine line he was somehow walking she dug about the options. "There were too many good things on special at Handro's. I couldn't decide." The small restaurant Ray and Tom had taken her to so long ago was now one of her favorite spots to stop. The owner had even promised her, after several months of coming in without a purse and her money in her hand, that no one would steal from her. That had been sweet of him really, and since then no one had touched any of her possessions when she was getting food. Considering she was sure he got half his money from his little gang of pickpockets she was particularly happy with things.

"You must be his best customer. What are we going to do with everything we can't eat?"

"I'll take it home and have it for breakfast." She said with more than a little joy over the prospect. Leftover were better than anything she would come up with before work.

She could see that sounded less than appetizing to the DDA. "Six in the morning is too early for cheap Mexican food."

She grabbed a taco and sat back. "It's never too early for cheap Mexican food."

"I worry about you."

"At least someone does." She said before she started eating. Holding the taco in one hand she dug around for hot sauce with the other. She brightened when she found extra in the bag. She did love Handro. Setting her food down long enough to open the packet she hummed happily as she slathered it over the food. McNorris shook his head at the sight. "How can you eat that and not get sick?"

"Don't know, don't care." She replied cheerfully after she swallowed.

"You're in a good mood today." He commented as he started selecting his own meal out of the bags. She saw he went for one of the beef burritos and was glad she got more than one of the massive beasts.

"Feel good." She swallowed quickly. She was usually in a better mood after her therapy sessions. For several perfect hours afterward she felt absolutely no pain at all. She hadn't actually told the DDA how awesome it was, but she figured he knew anyway, especially since she hadn't seen one bill for the services as of yet. He must have told the therapy office to send them all straight to him. "Travis is great. Thank you for sending me over there."

"I'm glad it's helping."

Her initial thoughts over how many sessions she would have to go to at first had been correct as well. For the first two weeks she went she had to go every other day. She was now down to two sessions a week but she could only imagine what the tab must be running, especially without any insurance to cover it. "Should I ask what you're paying for it?"

He shrugged without interest. "Darcy, I'm a single lawyer without any kids. I don't pay alimony anymore and I haven't been on vacation for three years. I promise this isn't a hardship for me. Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, okay." She had already thought about this, in depth. She could fight him on it and he would eventually win or she would have to stop going to therapy. She enjoyed the total absence of pain. She figured she would skip the fight and let him do it. If that meant pushing her pride aside then it was something she was willing to do. "Thank you, David."

He was obviously shocked she wasn't going to fight about this. He nodded and started eating as he stared absently out his window. "You don't seem as chipper as me. What's going on?"

"Something came up." He chewed thoughtfully. "My old roommate called me this morning." She raised an eyebrow in question. This was the first she'd ever heard about a roommate. "He needs a favor."

"What kind of favor? Who is he?"

"We shared an apartment when we were in law school. He works in Vegas now. I may have mentioned you in passing a few months ago."

"Mentioned me?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well, it was hard not to when he was asking how I won against Franklin three months ago." She wasn't sure where this was going but he was trying to ease her into something. She could tell by the way he was starting to suck up. "You were really the one that won that case. I wouldn't have been able to talk his defendant into a corner without your input."

"Uh huh." She took another bite of her taco. She figured she should fill her stomach while he tried to con her.

"He was intrigued. He's never worked with a psychologist before and certainly never a profiler."

She called bullshit on that. Anyone that worked in criminal law for long enough had contact with a psychologist in some manner. "I find that hard to believe."

"It's true." He assured her. "Las Vegas isn't as open to outside help as we are here." He said that as if L.A. were the cutting edge on all things new and amazing. After all, if McNorris was doing something it must be amazing and worthy of emulation.

She eyed him. "In what way am I 'outside help'? I work for the police department."

"True, but I don't. When I brought you onto the first case we worked I had to bargain, beg, and grovel to make that happen."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

She spotted a problem with that explanation. "You didn't even like me. Why would you bother?"

He shrugged. "Because I saw what you did in that interrogation room. You're good at your job, better than good. You had potential to be a very lucrative asset, worth far more than the money I lost to you."

How like him to think in terms of getting ahead as opposed to having a nice person to work with. Not that it bothered her. She had viewed him in pretty much the same way for a while, except she viewed him as a pain in the ass as opposed to an asset. She got him back on track. "Okay, so what does this have to do with your old pal from college?"

"He asked for a favor."

She crumpled up her wrapper as she finished her taco. "Here we go." She started searching for a burrito as he got to the heart of the matter. "What is this favor he wants and why do I have the sinking suspicion I'm somehow already involved?"

"He's having a bit of a problem with the crime lords in his city." He waved his hand vaguely. "He's the DA there."

Oh, no. No way in hell. She saw where this was going. "I am _not_ going to go help him profile members of the mob. That a fast jump into a shallow grave."

"Why do you have to give everything such a dramatic flair?"

Yeah, she was the drama queen in this relationship. "You're right, they wouldn't bother to bury me. They'd just dump my lifeless body in the desert and let nature take its course. I'd be a bleached skeleton in less than a week; only a forensic anthropologist would stand a chance identifying my body. You, on the other hand would be the same color, so no problem recognizing you."

He rolled his eyes. "No one would even know we were there."

"We? This is a 'we' thing now? Now _we're_ going to profile the mob?"

"No, I'm going to help him with this case he's putting together. He said he needed a fresh set of eyes."

This was insane. "Does L.A. not have enough crime for you? You have to go out of state to find more?"

"Look, it's always better to have someone owe you a favor then owing them one."

"Why can't you just stay on neutral ground and be cool with one another from a distance?"

He was growing impatient as she dug her heels in on this. "That's not how it works."

"Apparently not for you." She sighed. "There are other profilers in the country."

"Maybe, but you're close and I come with you. Believe it or not word about how well we do has traveled. I've only lost one case we worked on together. One case in over a year in this place? Are you kidding me? No one can do that."

"So you're telling me we're hot shit?"

"You have no idea." He was smug. "You have people scared."

"What?" She found a new treat and opened the wrapper of the quesadilla.

"I've never seen an office full of lawyers in such a state. A hundred and thirty pound woman scaring them shitless." He smirked as he took a bite and chewed. When he swallowed he continued. "And they all know you like me best. It's like having a bobcat on a leash."

She sent him a dry look. "A bobcat?"

"You're too young to be a cougar."

"Wow." Their conversations never ceased to amaze her. "I'm like a secret weapon to you aren't I?"

"More like the shotgun you keep over the mantel."

She huffed at him. "Sexy."

"You have no idea." His eyes swept over her appreciatively and she really believed that he found that thought to indeed be sexy. She had no idea what to do with this man anymore. "We need to leave Monday."

She wasn't sold on this. "No, David."

He pressed his lips together. "You're making this difficult."

"Oh am I?" She tossed the food back in the bag. She'd lost her appetite. "Have you ever dealt with the mob before? Because I have. Those are not people you want to fuck with. They'll torture you and then get nasty about things. I think I'll stick to the drug lords and gang leaders that we have in L.A. At least when you piss them off the shoot you in a drive by and it's quick."

"You've dealt with the mob before?"

"Yes." She said. "It didn't go well."

"What happened?"

She eyed him in a way that told him she wasn't stupid. He was just mining for information now. Despite his wiggling farther in with her, she had let out nearly no information about her past. If he thought she was going to drop something that easily he was just getting lazy. "Let's say there was rather a lot of blood spilled before it was over." She was very grateful that had been one of her first cases and she'd been left back at the office. Only a few months later her boss had started taking her out with the rest of the team, once he was sure she could handle it. "I'm drawing the line at this one."

He watched her for several moments. "Okay, what do you want?"

"Sorry?"

"What's it going to take to get you to Vegas?" He settled back in his chair, ready to bargain. "Name your price."

"There is no price. I'm not going." She was set on this. She had absolutely no interest in getting herself involved in something so obviously dangerous and stupid. "I've done a lot of stupid crap in my life but I'm not walking into it with my eyes wide open." She'd learned that lesson already. The definition of crazy was repeating the same thing again and expecting a different result. She wasn't going to repeat the same thing again.

He clicked his tongue. "I'll make sure we have people watching out for us and I'll get us a cover. No one will even know we're there."

"No, I'm not going to Vegas, I'm not going to deal with the mob, and I'm not taking time off work to help with a case that's taking place in a different state. You shouldn't go either. You'll get yourself killed fast if you're lucky."

He sent her his charm smile. "Worried about me?"

"Most of the time, but right now more than normal. This is a seriously bad idea. It would be great if you didn't succumb to an impulse at this juncture in time."

He tried a different approach. "You should come with me to be sure I'm okay."

"Nice try, but no."

"Come on, Darcy!" He pulled a file off the top of his pile. "Stop fighting me on this."

"This is not me fighting, this is me saying no."

He shoved the file to her. "Tell you what, you read this and if you still aren't interested I won't mention it again."

She glanced at the file then back at his face. "I'm not touching that."

"Afraid you might find it interesting?" He challenged.

She didn't take the bait. "Actually I am. And you know that. You know I can't turn down a puzzle once I see it. I'm not looking at that."

He opened his mouth for a moment before closing it. He was assessing her quietly. After a few moments he set the file down. "This is actually making you nervous."

"Yes, it is." She shook her head slightly. "Why do you want to do this so badly?"

"What?"

"Why does this matter to you?" She asked the question in a different way. She could tell, from the way he was pushing this, that this matter to him. "Why do you need to do this?"

"Jackson asked me to help."

"Your old roommate?"

"Yes."

She rubbed her face briefly. "Was he the last friend you had before me?"

That threw him. "What?"

"He was your friend? Jackson, the one that asked you for help?"

"As close as anyone before you."

"Are you really friends, David, or is this some sort of strange male pissing contest?" She looked up at him. "Tell me the truth."

"He's my friend."

Shaking her head she reached out and slid the file toward her. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." David didn't make friends easily, and he wouldn't call him a friend unless he was. She knew that turning this down wouldn't be taken very well. McNorris asked her for help and she couldn't flat out refuse if this was important to him. And who knows? One day he could be asking someone else to help her with something. "I'll go with you."

"You will?" There was a heavy amount of disbelief in his voice. "Just like that?"

"Apparently." She sighed softly as she opened the file. "I'll ask for time off tomorrow. How long will we be gone?"

"A week." He said, still wary, as if she might change her mind if he tried to get her off for one too many days.

"I can't believe I'm using my vacation time to work." She grumbled as she crossed her legs and propped the file on her knee.

"But in Vegas, the city of lights" He said, as if that were her dream vacation.

"Another city, woo hoo." She said dryly.

"Where would you rather be going?" She shrugged without interest but he pushed it. "Don't just shrug and pretend you don't have some place in mind. I have no doubt you've been ferreting away money for some sort of vacation that's no doubt going to be both boring and geeky."

"Hey!" She glared at him. "I'm not geeky!"

"Do you know what's beside the word geek in the dictionary?"

"The definition." She stated without missing a beat.

"See? Only a geek would know that."

She rolled her eyes. "You're like a five year old, do you know that?"

"So where were you planning on going?"

"I don't want to tell you. You'll make fun of me."

His lip twitched. "I promise not to make fun of you."

"You're lying. You know I can tell when you lie. Why do you even try that with me anymore?"

"Fine, I'll only tease you a little bit." She pouted at him and his eyes warmed as he watched her. He rested his head on his hand as he sat there and she knew he was appreciating her being there. "Tell me."

She relented. "I wanted to go see the redwoods."

He tilted his head. "The trees?"

"Yeah, I always wanted to see them." She shrugged, feeling embarrassed for no real reason. Why she would care that he found her vacation plans stupid was beyond her. She hadn't been planning for him to come with her or anything. She had been intending to go up there by herself in a month or so. She just hadn't gotten a chance to call up and make a reservation yet. "And it wouldn't be that rustic. They have a lodge you can stay in. It's not that far away either. I was going to drive up there."

"That's much less geeky than I anticipated."

"I'd rather you make fun of me then pretend that's interesting to you." She grumbled as she flicked through the report.

"I'm not pretending. The park is beautiful."

She returned her attention to him. "You've been there?"

"I drove through it once. The trees are impressive."

"Are they really as big as houses?" She asked. She may have read about them but that didn't mean she could believe it. Some things you just had to see.

"Yes."

She went back to the report with a disbelieving shake of her head. "That's awesome." She changed the subject before she could get wistful. That trip would just have to wait. For now she had to go to Vegas to deal with the mob. God that sounded idiotic in her own head. What was wrong with her? Why couldn't she find a normal job that didn't involve bodily harm and possible death? Oh, that's right, she was insane. Feeling better she settled in to read this chunker of a report. It was going to take her hours to sort through all this, and that was if she left her clinical assessment over the type of issues she had out it.

Author Note: New chapter! Yay! Thanks for the reviews guys! They make my day so happy.


	16. Preliminary: Remarks Month Sixteen

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**16. Preliminary Remarks– Month Sixteen**

She sat back from the short coffee table and rubbed her neck tiredly. This was so exhausting. They'd been here for three days and she hadn't stopped working, except to eat and sleep. After they got off the plane they had gotten a rental car and David had driven them straight the DA's office. They'd gotten a brief tour and then she'd been kidnapped by several cops and taken to the police department. She'd spent the next twelve hours watching interviews and sifting through their records while she was shadowed. No one trusted her enough to leave her alone, she thought that made them smart even if it annoyed her.

After that she was carted back to the DA's office where she sat in a meeting for nearly five more hours. After some serious discussion she and ghost boy had left loaded with files, in their luggage so no one would notice the paperwork, and retreated to their hotel. She was so tired she simply collapsed on the bed fully clothed. Between the travel time and work she had been up for over twenty-four hours. She didn't even care that McNorris had gotten them a fancy hotel suite, complete with an outer room and balcony that looked out over the city, with only one bed. It didn't even occur to her to scold him about it. Hell, it didn't even register that something was wrong with that until well into the next day.

She was vaguely aware that he got in bed with her before she fell asleep, mostly because he took her shoes off for her before he did. She'd only slept for a few hours before they were back off and running again. He'd made her get up early so they could go out and have breakfast. He said she needed to eat and they needed to be noticed, or more likely ignored, as a couple on vacation. Figuring in Vegas that would fly, and considering some of the other much more unique guests they found at the hotel restaurant, she accepted the cover he gave them.

But now she was back in the hotel trying to make sense of her own notes. The police had offered to let her work at the department, and she'd gotten another invitation to take over an office in the law firm, but she needed some alone time to think. The noise in both buildings was too much with this level of complexity in front of her. She hated profiling groups of people. It was hard and there was always at least one wild card in the group that could throw her whole theory into the gutter. Ghost boy was at the law office being helpful but there was only so much she could do there. They'd been exchanging information via text message for the last few hours as she sifted through pages of information and she knew she was reaching the end of her rope.

She would need a break from this case soon or she would start to screw up. She'd spent too much time on this. At least in L.A. she could transition between cases and therapy sessions. That gave her a mental break. Now she was on the edge, the way she used to be all the time, and she didn't like it. She didn't like feeling like a bundle of nerves. She was stressed out and unhappy, and Jason wasn't here to defuse her the way he used to. She began to appreciate her job in L.A. in a way she never had before, especially when her mind started to loop again.

Standing up, she began to pace around the room and grabbed the remote and turned the TV on simply to have something to listen to other than her own thoughts. Stretching her back, she rolled her neck and was considering what to do to hit her 'eject button' as McNorris called it, when someone knocked on the door. Moving forward cautiously she looked through the peephole and spotted a hotel worker, cursing McNorris for making them fly here. She couldn't bring her gun on the plane with her so she'd had to leave it at home. The young worker, who couldn't have been more than nineteen, had a clothing bag over one arm and a box in his opposite hand.

Frowning, she opened the door a crack, keeping the dead bolt in place. "Yes?"

"I have a package here for you."

Yeah, and she was sure the mob could deliver all kinds of things in boxes and clothing bags. "From who?"

The teenager twisted his arm awkwardly and looked at a card in his hand. "David?" He came out more of a question than an answer.

Nodding slightly she shut the door long enough to remove the lock and then reached out and took the items. "Thank you."

"You're wel-" She shut the door on him. She admitted it was a little rude, and she'd leave the boy a tip at the reception desk later, once she was sure this wasn't a bomb and if she was still alive. Going to the bedroom she set the bag on the bed and then set the box beside it. Spotting a card attached to the top she detached it and pulled out the note.

_You looked frazzled this morning. I thought we could use a break._

_David._

Her forehead crinkled as her worry over booby traps faded away. This was his handwriting so she was relatively sure ghost boy was the one that sent this. Opening the clothing bag first she stopped before she could pull out the dress she found inside. She stared at it for a long moment. It was simple, white, and utterly gorgeous. The lines on it were beautiful and the fabric gleamed in the last of the sunlight coming in through the window. She ran her hand over it lightly and wasn't surprised to find that it was made of silk.

Turning to the box she opened it carefully and found a pair of utterly sexy turquoise colored high heels. They were peek toe and strappy and she pulled one out of the box with more than a little awe to inspect it. These were the hottest shoes she'd seen in quiet some time and she had fairly high standards when it came to footwear. Turning it over in her hand she spotted a label and nearly dropped them. He had gotten her freaking Gucci shoes. Grabbing at the heel as it toppled about between her hands she set it on the bed lest it fall and get scuffed. "Holy crap."

Reaching into the box to grab the other shoe her hand hit something. Frowning, she set the heels together on the comforter and retrieved one of two smaller boxes out of the bigger one. Half afraid of what she might find in the long velvet box, there was no mistaking that jewelry was inside, she opened it slowly. What she found didn't disappoint. A beautiful silver and turquoise necklace, that she could tell with one glance was an antique, sat in the box gleaming up at her. It was chunkier than any of the jewelry she owned but she fell in love with the piece instantly. Running her hands over the necklace she let out an involuntary, and utterly feminine coo at the object. Without thinking she grabbed the last remaining box and popped it open. A matching set of turquoise earrings and a bracelet sat inside.

Floored by the gifts she stood there looking at everything for nearly a full minute without moving. She had never received anything as expensive, and utterly frivolous, as this before. She was sure that this outfit had cost more than she made in a month. That was just insane. Biting her lip she put her hand to her mouth as her delight warred with guilt over the extravagance. This was so nice. McNorris really didn't need to do this, had no real reason to. She had brought a dress she could go out in with her. He had seen it in the closet. There was no way for him to miss it with his suits in there with it. It was a pretty enough dress but nowhere near as nice as the one he bought her. Her delight turned to a rather unpleasant feeling of inadequacy. He really did make quite a bit more money than her. It was nice he had thought to get her something appropriate if he was taking her out somewhere really nice…

That son of a bitch. She spluttered as what he was really doing sank in. This wasn't a gift; this was a freaking guilt trip with designer labels! He did this on purpose so she would have to go out with him or feel like a complete bitch if she didn't! He had been trying to get her in bed for months and when blunt didn't work he decided to try subtle with a dash of Gucci! And it had almost worked! That was the real kicker. For a full three minutes she had been utterly at the mercy of the irrational side of her brain, the part that liked shiny things and shoes. Damn him and his sneaky man brain. And damn her weakness for heels.

Miffed with the whole thing she set the shoes and jewelry on the dresser and pulled the dress all the way out of the bag. She liked the stupid thing even more when she managed to see all of it at once. Grumbling at herself she put it on a hanger and moved to the closet. She was hanging up the dress in it when McNorris walked in. She turned around and eyed him. "What is this?" She demanded.

"It looks like a cocktail dress." She crossed her arms and waited as she stood rebelliously in front of the open closet. He smiled charismatically at her and she knew he was up to something for sure. "Don't you like it?"

There was no denying that she liked it a great deal. Any woman would like what she'd just gotten unless they had some sort of freakish silver allergy. So whom did that leave out? Werewolf women? "It's very pretty. Why is it here?"

"Pretty?" He walked past her and looked at the white dress critically. "This is gorgeous." Taking it out of the closet he handed it to her, holding it up in front of her as if to picture her in it as he did so. "I can't wait to see you in it."

"Well, you're going to be waiting a long time. I'm not putting this on."

He cocked his head to the side as she shoved what she the dress in his hands. "You're going to look awfully silly in jeans and a t-shirt when we go out to dinner."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not going out to dinner with you and I'm not wearing this dress."

Frustration flashed over his face for a millisecond before he smoothed it away. "Why? It covers your back."

Despite the massive amount of self-control she had she knew anger, disgust, and sadness flew over her own expression for a brief moment. "I'm not going to dinner, McNorris." Pushing past him she walked into the living area and away from him. She started sorting through her notes again. She had better things to do with her time than letting him dance her into the bedroom.

"Darcy-" He followed her as he fell headlong into his charm. "-why won't you let me take you out?"

"This isn't you taking me out. This is you trying to coerce me into something that I don't fully understand and you have no intention of explaining." She spun around as she tossed the papers back on the table. "I don't know who you've taken out in the past but this isn't going to fly with me. Just because you bought me a ridiculously expensive dress, and jewelry I absolutely do not need, does not mean I'm going to let you make me feel obligated to go get food with you."

"Trust me, Darcy, if I were trying to coerce you, you wouldn't be aware of it. And don't forget the shoes, I _know_ you like those the most."

She didn't respond to the shoe goading, mostly because he was right about it. "I find that highly unlikely. I know your tells."

That caught his interest but he walked around her and started herding her toward the bedroom again. When she realized she had taken two steps toward the door in retreat she dug her heels into the carpet and he stopped with her. "We need to go out and be seen. We're supposed to be a couple on the cusp of engagement. Nearly engaged people go out when they're in Vegas. They eat dinner and see shows."

She narrowed her eyes. "What does that mean?"

"It means we're going out."

"No, no, no." She poked his chest. "The show thing. Why did you say that?"

He reached into his jacket pocket with a smile and handed her an envelope. Glaring, she snatched it out of his hand and opened it. When she saw what the tickets were for her forehead crinkled. She was at a loss. "Spamalot? Why?"

"You wanted to see it."

Her paranoia, which was already high considering why they were here, rose up. "How could you possibly know that?"

"I saw you looking at the brochures in the lobby when I was checking us in. You held that one longer and smiled when you saw it."

"Why are you watching me?"

"You were the prettiest thing there."

She rolled her eyes and gave him the tickets. "No."

He let out an aggravated breath. "Why are you making this hard?" He held the envelope between two fingers. "I got us reservations at one of the nicest restaurants in the city and tickets to a show you want to see. I even got you a dress to wear so you wouldn't have to worry about it. What's the problem?"

"I don't go out."

"But you used to." He stated that. It wasn't a question.

"What I used to do has nothing to do with this discussion." What she used to do was a different lifetime ago.

"I think it does. Don't you want to go out and have some fun?"

"No." She turned on her heel and went into the bedroom.

He continued to follow her. "That's a lie. You know you want to see that play."

"It's not a play, it's a musical. Do you even like musicals?"

"I don't know. I've never been to one."

Well that should be fun. He'd try to choke himself with his tie before the first chorus was over. She sat down in a chair next to the window. "Never?"

"No." He waved toward the dress. "And it starts at eight. Our reservations are at six. You have an hour to get ready. I know that's more than enough time for you."

She stared at him. She couldn't believe he was still pushing this. "Does the word 'no' not register in your vocabulary?"

He leaned down and set his hands on the arms of the chair. His face was suddenly right in front of hers and she repressed a sigh of annoyance. "If it did I assure you I would not be where I am today. I'd still be in the back alleys of Massachusetts."

"You mean you might be a nice man instead of a sleazy lawyer?"

He barked out a laugh. "I haven't been sleazy since I got back from rehab." She raised her eyebrow in disbelief and he shrugged. "Okay, one time, but the lady in question was wearing a miniskirt the likes of which I had never seen. I can't be held responsible for that. Besides, we were both unattached."

Attractive. "You're disgusting."

"This from Miss S and M?"

"I don't enjoy pain, McNorris."

"The marks on your back suggest otherwise."

Her eyes flashed. "Believe it or not I didn't ask to be brutally mutilated!"

His smirk turned into a frown and she realized she should have kept her fat mouth shut. How was it she had ended up in the presence of the one human being on Earth that could not only keep up with her, but more often than not circle in front of her and catch her unaware? "How did that happen then?"

Shoving him away from her she stood up and snatched the dress off the closet door. Moving past him without a word she shut the bathroom door with a snap. Locking it quickly she started the shower. She had realized the only way to get him to leave her alone was to do what he wanted. Fuck. Hanging the dress on the hook on the door she started stripping down.

Thirty minutes later and she finished blow-drying her hair and slipped into the dress. The mirror had lost most of the fog the shower had put on it and she grudgingly admitted it was even more beautiful on her then on the hanger. It fit her perfectly and the heart shaped neckline did wonders for her. Grumbling in annoyance at such a wonderful choice, one she was fairly sure she couldn't have topped, she dug out her makeup. McNorris certainly did have an eye for fashion. Another ten minutes later and she was painted and had jewelry picked out and on. She needed shoes.

Exiting the bathroom she heard him moving around in the other room. He had shut the bedroom door for her and her eyes narrowed. He was either being considerate or planning something else, or perhaps using the consideration as more ammunition. Moving to the dresser she took the shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed. Slipping her feet inside she adjusted the straps until they were snug and stood up. They made her legs look amazing.

When she was done she ran her fingers through her short hair. Feeling inspired by the outfit she returned to the bathroom and went at her short hair. After some careful positioning, and a lot of curling, she had her normally straight hair in soft ringlets. She rarely bothered to do much with her hair, it took too long in the morning, but really the dress deserved it. Her hair swayed against her scalp oddly and she dug out her hairspray and covered it in a light dusting to keep the curls intact.

Moving back to the bedroom again she stopped in front of the vanity and put on the turquoise jewelry. Snapping the clap on the heavy necklace she caught sight of herself in the mirror hanging over the dresser and she knew she hadn't looked this spectacular since her wedding. Caught off guard by that thought she hurled it to the back of her mind and shook her head. No, no, no. That was a different life. Darcy Fox had never been married and she certainly wasn't a widow. She was a young, single counselor with a low-level government position. She was here to do a job and nothing else. Repeating that about six times she shook herself off and threw her shoulders back.

When she was back to her confident self she went to the door. She didn't have a purse nice enough to go with this outfit. McNorris was going to be in charge of money and the room key. When she opened the door the DDA looked over at her from the armchair he had folded himself up in absently. He had changed while she was in the shower and the suit he was in was more relaxed, if that were possible, than anything she'd ever seen him wear before. His usual vest was gone and all he had over a navy blue dress shirt was a gleaming black tie. He did a double take when he saw her and let his gaze wander down her body slowly. When he didn't take his eyes off her she pressed her lips together and put her hand on her hip. "Are you done?"

"I would really rather start."

"I'm too good for you, McNorris. There will be no starting."

He threw his head back and laughed. When he was done his blue eyes sparked with lust as he kept his attention on her face. "You really are." He looked her over one more time. "Pity. I don't think I've ever met a woman as beautiful as you that can keep me in line and knows what I'm talking about all the time."

Smarmy bastard, she would not be swayed by his critique of her current outfit. She fell back on her sarcasm like a shield. "Because jurisdiction codes and understanding evidentiary support is such a challenge. Honestly."

His eyes glittered with lustful amusement. "You're mean too. I love it."

"Of course you do. Sugar makes you gag. Are you taking me to dinner or not?"

"Are you sure? I promise to keep you fully occupied if you'd like to stay here. We could order room service."

"Not happening."

He pouted. "First you won't go and now you won't stay. Women. They never can make up their minds."

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure I've been fighting the same urge to kill you since we met."

She could tell the DDA was having the time of his life trying to get under her dress. "We'll see how you feel about me after I take you out."

"Annoyed and disgusted?"

He grinned as she stepped to the door and paused briefly to whisper in her ear. "Wet."

She sighed dramatically, and when she opened the door made sure it smacked him in the shoulder. He grunted in surprise before snickering under his breath. "So mean."

"Shut up and feed me."

"Ah, ah. We're in public now. You have to be nice. We do have appearances to maintain."

Her eyes darted to him and she decided to be as mean as he claimed she was. Stepping to the side as they moved forward she looped her arm with his and leaned up. Breathing right behind his ear she saw the hair on the nape of his neck start to stick up as warm air rippled over it. "I'm so sorry, David. I don't know what I could have been thinking." She pressed more fully into him. "Maybe I'll make it up to you later." As she spoke she molded her side against his, purposefully rubbing herself against him. "Then again maybe not."

He went stiff and his arm tightened around hers. Letting her head fall she smirked triumphantly as he hit the button for the elevator. When it opened he led her in. She should have known better than to tease him and not expect some sort of retaliation, this was McNorris after all, she didn't know what she was thinking. The moment the doors closed he caught her hip with his free hand and spun her around so they were pressed flat against one another. His eyes glittered with want. "Don't start playing grab ass with me unless you mean it, baby doll." His hand roamed over her backside as he spoke. "Because I promise if you do you'll end up naked and screaming for me not to stop." He lowered his head so their mouths were an inch apart. "Then again with the dry spell you've had I might be a little too much for you to handle."

Oh, please. She raised an eyebrow and lowered her eyes boldly to his fly. "I tend to doubt that."

He growled as amusement and manly pride rose up in him. He snuck in and kissed her hard on the mouth. She was shocked that she was once again allowing this and felt a spark at the contact. She should have been royally pissed by his behavior. Instead her eyes fell closed as she leaned into him and he held her in his grip until the elevator dinged. He let her go abruptly and spun her around so she was next to his side again. She glared at him out of the corner of her eye and he chuckled meanly. "Think about it. We could have fun together and I promise I would live up to even your extensive expectations."

They walked into the extravagant lobby. "Maybe I want more than fun."

"The goods ones always do." The bellman waved a cab for them and moved forward to open the door. "I can do more than fun."

"Can you?" She let him help her inside. "You have lipstick on your mouth."

He shut the door and she saw him wipe it away as he moved around the car. Rolling her eyes she said nothing as he sat next to her and gave the cabby directions. Apparently they weren't going far, three blocks later and they had arrived. They could have walked, then again maybe not in these shoes. Stepping out of the cab she let McNorris lead her into the restaurant without a fight. She could tell he hadn't been lying when he said this was one of the nicest restaurants in the city. That was the last clear thought or memory she remembered having for the next ten hours.


	17. Dread: Month Sixteen

Disclaimer: Boomtown in not my property.

**17. Dread – Month Sixteen**

She opened her eyes little by little and let out a small moan. Her body hurt all over and she could smell the sharp tang of blood in the air. Turning her head slowly as the world came back into focus she saw she was in their hotel room on the floor between the sitting room and the bedroom. What the hell? Blinking groggily she tried to work out how she got here and came up with nothing but a void of blankness. Unnerved by that she started to push herself off her stomach and let out a sharp cry when her wrist flared with white-hot pain. She fell back to the carpet and curled up as she instinctively cradled her arm to her chest.

Sucking in air through her nose she firmly got the pain under control. Before she moved again she took a second to assess the damage her body had sustained. Other than a dull ache she was sick to her stomach, she thought her head was going to explode, her side hurt in a way that told her at least one rib was broken, and there was something wrong with one of her knees. She thought there might be more wrong with her but she couldn't work anything else out at the moment. Oh, and there was her wrist too. She couldn't forget about that.

"McNorris?" She called to him weakly, nearly pleading. There was no response and her worry began to build. She could handle being hurt, but the DDA wouldn't have left her this way. As much as they argued they were friends, no doubt about it. The man had a hidden protective streak in him that he had let out in the open every now and then when she found herself in a predicament. Hell, he wasn't even trying to hide it anymore. He was flat out showing it to her. Why he directed that impulse toward her was no longer a mystery, but it told her something. He wasn't here or he wasn't alive. He might be both dead and gone. The thought made her blood run cold.

Rolling slowly she got to her knees. Her designer shoes were gone, her dress was ripped, and her bracelet was nowhere to be found. Taking her time and controlling her breathing, she stood up. The last thing she could afford to do was to pass out because she got dizzy. "McNorris?" She glanced behind her and didn't see him in the outer room. "David?" She limped farther into the bedroom and saw shoes sticking out from the other side of the bed.

Moving forward quickly she found him sprawled out on the floor with his head lolled to the side. The man had seen better days. She fell to her bloody knees next to him and put her fingers on his neck. His pulse was beating erratically and she frowned. Reaching out she began to unbutton his shirt with her one good hand, and when it was open she shoved the fabric aside. A sheen of sweat coated him and she touched his skin. McNorris was cold and clammy. Lowering her head she set it over his chest and listened to his breathing critically. Then she cursed, it was shallow and halting.

Tapping his face she tried to wake him up. "David? Can you hear me?" Nothing. Damn it. She hoped his heart would hold out for a little while longer. Reaching into his pocket she dug his cell phone out, because she had no idea where hers was, and was about to dial 9-1-1 when it rang. The caller ID flashed with a name and she opened the phone, it was Jackson. "Can't talk now."

"Where are you two?" The DA's voice was dripping with annoyance even if he did sound slightly distracted. "You should have been at my office an hour ago."

Unfazed, she answered. "In our hotel room. I think someone drugged us. McNorris is about to go into cardiac arrest. You need to call an ambulance for him right now."

"What?"

"Now, Jackson! If his heart stops there's not much I can do with an ice bucket and a hair dryer! That's all I've got!"

"All right. I'm calling now. I'll have paramedics there in ten minutes."

"You better hope so because if he dies I'm going to kill you." Hanging up the phone she got up quickly and raced to the door. Unlocking it she went to the table next to the window and snatched up the aforementioned ice bucket. Thankfully, it still had some ice floating in it, most of it was water but that was better right now. Setting it down she got a washcloth out of the bathroom and dipped it in the cool water. Squeezing out what she could with one hand she wiped it over his chest. If she cooled him down his body wouldn't have to work as hard, or at least that was her hope.

She stared talking to him, not because she thought he would wake up, but because she was freaking out and it made her feel better. "McNorris, you need to keep your heart from stopping for at least the next five to seven minutes. I don't have the equipment here to keep you alive if you decided to be a jerk and die on me."

He simply lay there pale and still. She watched him intently, waiting for anything to happen and praying nothing would. Considering she was agnostic and praying she figured this was a pretty damn bad situation. The man decided to be good for the first four minutes, then he had to go and make trouble. She didn't know what else she should have been expecting. His breathing shuddered to a stop and she snarled at him. Her hand was on his neck in a second. "McNorris! Don't you dare do this to me! You aren't allowed to die after weaseling your way into my life!"

When he didn't start to breathe again she cursed. "God fucking damn it!" Placing her hands on his chest she started to do CPR. She heard and felt her wrist grinding but didn't stop the rhythmic movement even as pain lanced up her arm. By this point her adrenaline had spiked and she knew her own body was blocking a lot of the pain from really registering. It was just a pity it wasn't blocking all of it. When she hit ten compressions she tilted his head back and blew a puff of air into his mouth. He didn't start breathing again so she fell into a controlled panic because there was nothing else she could do but continue trying to get his heart to start again. Focusing on what she was doing she did her best to ignore her wrist, knowing she was making it worse, and continued to try to keep him alive. She could worry about herself later.

She had no idea how long she worked on him before her door burst open. She glanced over her shoulder to see two paramedics rush through the door. She spoke quickly as one fell to his knees next to her. "He's in cardiac arrest. He stopped breathing about a minute ago and I've been doing CPR."

"Good." The woman said as she rushed to his side. She scrambled away as they hooked an air mask over his face and sat exhausted against the wall. Tears gathered in her eyes as she watched but she knew better than to get in the way or let them fall. This was not the time to loose her head. As the first paramedic was taking care of the DDA the other one, a man in his twenties, crouched down next to her.

"Are you hurt?"

"Yeah, but I'll live."

"What happened?"

She made a helpless gesture. "I'm not sure. I woke up like this. I don't remember anything past about eight last night. We were going out to dinner. That's all I remember."

"Okay, let's get you checked out. You need to come with us to the hospital so we can run blood tests." She nodded in understanding. "Can you walk?" The man was checking her over briefly and distractedly as he kept turning his head to check on his partner and ghost boy.

"Yeah, just get him there."

"We will." With that she was left alone while they got McNorris on a stretcher. When he was on they raised the wheeled bed and she got to her feet. As they left she grabbed her purse and locked the door behind them. There was no reason to contaminate the scene any more than it already was.

A minute later and they were getting in the ambulance. Once McNorris was in the female paramedic helped her in carefully. Once she was up the doors closed and she sat on the free bed silently. They were at the hospital four minutes later. The paramedics handed McNorris off to one of the doctors and several nurses on staff while another nurse captured her. She suddenly found the room spinning around her in a swirling vortex and rushed out a statement. "I'm going to be sick."

The woman led her to a nearby trashcan quickly and she threw up. Oh man, she felt really awful. The woman held her up until she was done then set her on the first bed in a series of them. She thought that was smart because her legs gave out from under her moments before she sat down. Giving up fighting gravity, because it was a greater force than her will, she lay down as her head spun and the nurse began to question her. "Where are you hurt?"

"I have a broken left wrist, my ribs are cracked if not broken, I did something to my knee, and I'm pretty sure I've been drugged. I blacked out at about eight last night. The man that came in with me probably has the same thing in his bloodstream as I do."

"I'm going to draw some blood while you're waiting to see the doctor."

"Good idea." She decided to let someone else be practical about this and simply complied with what was going on. She held out her uninjured arm as the nurse turned around to get what she needed.

The woman wrapped an elastic band above her elbow. "Are you going to throw up again?"

"I don't think so."

The woman carefully drew her blood with a small needle. "If you need to let me know, or throw up on the floor if you have to. You don't whatever's in your stomach staying in. If your body wants to purge it let it out."

"Okay." She looked up into kind brown eyes. She could see the older woman was genuinely concerned with her. "Will you tell me if he's going to be all right?"

"Your friend?"

She nodded into the pillow. "I know you can't tell me anything specific. I just want to know if he's alive."

"I will."

"Thank you." She was quiet for a second as she contemplated something else. "You need to run a date rape test on me."

"I know." The woman said quietly. She nodded and closed her eyes. She wished she knew what had happened. She wished she wasn't here. She wished McNorris was okay and she wished she'd never let him talk her into coming. This had really been a bad idea. Sometimes she hated being right because she had no doubt in her mind who had gotten them both in this condition.

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She gazed silently out the window of the hospital room. She'd been waiting for McNorris to wake up for nearly three days now. She'd only left to shower and change once, and then to gather her notes from her room after the police had swept it for evidence. Since then she'd been curled up on this old, uncomfortable chair with her paperwork and her laptop finishing what they came here to do. Only an hour ago she'd e-mailed her report to Jackson.

Despite her injured wrist she had gotten what they came her to do done. After getting attacked and watching McNorris lying unconscious on this bed she had been highly motivated to get every last mobster in the city thrown in jail for a very long time. Fuck the lot of them. The only thing she'd found to be grateful for was a negative result on her rape test. If that had come back positive she thought she really might have lost it once and for all. She wasn't sure she could handle anything else. She needed a real ass vacation away from all this crazy or she was going to flip out.

She heard movement outside the door and twitched all over as her head came around. All she saw was a uniformed officer shifting as he stood guard and she relaxed again, at least as much as she could. Thanks to the Vegas cops she had been allowed to stay with ghost boy well past visiting hours. The doctor's hadn't even asked her to leave, she figured Jackson had a large part in making that happen. His fiancé was the CEO of the hospital. Hurrah, for connections.

Glancing at the attorney she bit her lip. She was worried about him and she wasn't going to pretend otherwise. She was terrified he wouldn't wake up even though the doctor that took his case assured her that he would. She was afraid someone would get to him if she wasn't there even if there was a cop stationed outside the door. She was worried the closet friend she'd made since she packed up her life and moved would slip away because she hadn't been fast enough or smart enough to get him here in time.

Needless to say it hadn't been the best few days. Rubbing her eyes tiredly she started to curl her legs up in the old chair so she could get some sleep. She threw her twisted knee, which she was thankful wasn't broken, over the leg in an effort to get comfortable. It wasn't even close to being comfy but she wasn't going anywhere. As she tucked her other leg under her the man lying next to her groaned. Her eyes snapped open and she leaned the full two inches of space between the chair and the bed to see him as her legs went back down so her feet were on the floor. "McNorris?"

"God damn." He winced and raised his hand to his chest sluggishly. "What the hell hit me?"

"A high dose of cocaine mixed with rohypnol followed by electric shocks. Your heart stopped."

"What?" He turned his head toward her voice and blinked groggily at her. He must have noted their surroundings because confusion was obvious in his expression and tone. "Where are we?"

"The hospital. What's the last thing you remember?"

"We were at dinner."

"Yeah. I blacked out about then too. Someone dosed us. It was probably in our food. You ate more so more of the drugs got in your system. I woke up and we were in our hotel room beat black and blue. You were unconscious then you went into cardiac arrest. The paramedics kept you alive until you got here. Jackson called them for you."

She figured that was too much information at once because he shook his head slightly. "Why is your wrist in a cast?"

She glanced down at the white casing on her arm. "It's broken. I cracked a couple of ribs too. You have a broken collarbone so don't move around too much. You'll hurt yourself."

"You're covered in bruises." He said as he reached out to touch her hand. With the shirt she had on he could see her arms; it was fairly obvious she'd been roughed up. Her entire body was dotted with dark splotches.

Still, she had already told him she was hurt. "So are you."

"What happened with the case?"

"Luckily you were pretty much done. I finished my assessment and Jackson has it. Last I heard they were raiding a couple of places to snatch people."

"They tried to kill us before we could finish."

"I know."

"They found out we were here helping."

"They did."

"You knew this would happen."

"No, I just figured there was a pretty good chance that it would. We could have gotten out without them knowing but I guess it hardly matters now."

He sighed and she reached out and squeezed his hand briefly. "You should rest. We're safe here. They have a cop watching the door for us."

"Nice of them considering we nearly died to get rid of their mafia problem."

"You did die." His forehead wrinkled as he looked up at her. She shifted anxiously. "You were dead for about two minutes. I told you your heart stopped."

"You didn't die did you?" He asked with real worry.

She smiled briefly, that was funny and she honestly had no idea why it tickled her funny bone considering the situation. "No, I was simply scared shitless and left with the hangover of the century. I'm never coming back here again."

He didn't seem to find any of this amusing in the slightest. Raising his arm he pointed at her neck. "I didn't do that to you did I?"

"No."

He wasn't convinced. "You said you don't remember."

"You didn't do this to me. You wouldn't hurt me even if you were drugged out of your mind." He opened his mouth and she held up her cast. "I got this by hitting someone. Hard. I can tell by the fracture pattern I saw in the x-ray. You're not hurt enough anywhere for me to have hit you. Trust me, if you had been the one hitting me you would have worse than a broken collarbone right now." When he hesitantly nodded in acceptance she continued. "My bet is we fought our way out of something, not that I can prove it. It's just a gut feeling."

"Your gut feelings tend to pan out."

She shrugged, that was pretty true. "The circumstantial evidence does point to fighting."

He closed his eyes briefly. "I'm sorry."

"Why? You didn't drug me or attack me. You have nothing to be sorry for." She tilted her head. "You probably saved me."

"How can you know that?"

"You have some pretty extensive bruising on your side. From the pattern it looks like you were hunched over something." She left the rest hanging, allowing him to absorb what she had said before speaking. The only way she could work out that he got those bruises was if he were shielding something, like her. "Thank you."

He was quiet for a second. "When can we leave?"

"When the doctor says you're okay to travel. You're not moving out of this bed until he says it's safe."

He didn't seem too interested in fighting with her. Maybe he was too worn out to try. "All right, would you go get him? Let's see what he thinks. You aren't the only one that's had enough of this place."

"Sure, McNorris." Standing up she heard and felt her spine popping and winced. "Ow."

He raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been sitting there?"

"Awhile." She muttered. "I'm getting old. This is tragic." Rubbing her neck she walked into the hall and to the nurse's station. The woman on duty glanced up from a chart and she gave her a friendly smile. "Hi. The man in room 402 woke up and wants to see his doctor."

"It'll be a few minutes. He's with another patient."

Of course he was. They could wait until he was done. "I understand. Thank you."

She returned to the dreaded chair and sank down. "How long is awhile?" Ghost boy questioned.

She glanced at him sleepily. "What?"

"You said you've been in the chair awhile. How long is that?"

She rested her head on her good hand. "Does it matter?"

"It does to me."

That was weird. "Since you got here. Other than the six hours I left to get some things and clean up."

"How long have I been here?"

"Three days."

"You've been with me for three days?"

"Yeah." She confirmed.

"Why?"

She frowned, was he really this dense or was he so exhausted his brain was turned off? "What do you mean why? You're my friend. Why on Earth would I leave you alone while you were in the hospital?"

"I was unconscious."

And that changed things how? "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Apparently nothing." He closed his eyes and sighed. "We shouldn't have come here."

She one hundred percent agreed with that but she wasn't about to make him feel worse about this. "You were trying to help your friend stop some very bad people. We needed to come to help."

"You don't need to be nice about this."

"I'm being honest, not nice. These are bad people. I just profiled about fifteen of them. None of what I found was good or redemptive. Most of them were cold-blooded killers. If we didn't help get them arrested they would have kept killing."

"More people will just step into their places."

She wasn't pleased with his pessimistic attitude. "We can only do what we can do. We did a lot. We helped. That's what you came here to do. Don't turn into a Debby Downer on me."

"Who's Debby Downer?"

"Jesus Christ, David. Seriously, for the sake of my sanity you have got to start watching some television. My pop culture references, which are so full of wit and hilarity, are utterly lost on you. It's plain sad. You would totally believe that I was funny if you ever knew what I was talking about."

He wasn't convinced by her very honest argument. "That trash will rot your mind."

"Eh." She shrugged. "My mind was trashed by rot ages ago. What do I have to loose? What do you have to loose for that matter? Your mind is so often in the gutter it's a wonder you don't smell of sewage."

He huffed at her. "That was hurtful."

She smiled as his lip twitched. At least he wasn't all morose about life anymore. "Hey, no worries, you smell pretty good most of the time."

"Most of the time?"

"What do you want? Do you want me to lie to you and tell you that at all times you smell like roses?"

"Because that's such a manly aroma." He commented good-naturedly.

She laughed softly, pleased with the thought of him smelling like a rose bush, and he smiled briefly before he let out a tired sigh. Her humor faded away and she caught his hand. Most of the color in his face had vanished over the course of their talk and she had only just noticed. She figured that made her a bad friend. "You should rest."

"I agree." The doctor said as he walked in. "Although it's nice to see you back in the land of the living, David. How are you feeling?" As the doctor came over to check the attorney over she got up and moved to the window so she would be out of the way.

As David answered questions some of the tension drained out of her. She was extremely grateful that he was okay, and in that moment she knew why she was. Her stomach dropped to her feet and a chill ran through her. Shit. This hadn't been part of her plan at all. Glancing outside she saw the lights of Vegas twinkling more brightly then the stars. She wanted to go home so she could mull this over in her own space, in a place she could think clearly, and at her own pace. It had hit her too hard just now, after the last few days, and she needed some breathing room.

Author Note: A new chapter! Yay!


	18. Relent: Month Sixteen

Disclaimer: I don't' own Boomtown.

**18. Relent –Month Sixteen**

She set the attorney's suitcase down in his living room and looked him over. She wasn't sure leaving him alone was the best idea right now. He was still pale even if he had slept most of the drive back, and the full three days preceding the drive. She had voted against the plane on their return trip. If his heart stopped again they wouldn't be able to get him help a thousand miles up in the air. She had simply taken the car he rented, chucked their things in the trunk, and pushed the grumpy, exhausted, and medicated DDA into the passenger seat. The doctor had told her he wasn't supposed to deal with anything stressful for at least a week so there was no way she was going to let him drive. He had resented her for that, and she had ignored him as she entered the highway, telling him to put on his seatbelt. With a sleepy grumble he gave in and the belt clicked closed, he was quiet after that, she thanked the meds for that.

The trip that was supposed to take four hours was nearly doubled with traffic and construction. At least McNorris hadn't noticed. If he had been awake after the first hour she was sure he would have tried to drive despite his discharge orders, he was that pig headed. As it was she had woken him up when they pulled into his driveway and he had blinked blearily at the clock in the car before glaring halfheartedly at her. It seemed all he had energy for were halfhearted things, it was setting her teeth on edge, the strangeness of him giving into to things so easily when he usually would have been grumbling and snarking about her trickery until long after she left.

She stood where she was uncertainly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." She shifted her weight nervously and he shook his head. "Darcy, go home and get some sleep. I'm not going to keel over and you haven't slept in nearly four days. You need to rest."

"I've gone longer without sleep."

"That in itself worries me. Go home."

She ran her hand through her hair. "Are you sure? I could stay in the spare bedroom."

"You don't have any clean clothes with you and I know you won't rest here. You'll keep checking on me when I don't need checked on. The doctor told me I was fine and I'm not about to try to do anything but lay down. Go home and go to sleep. I'm fine. If anything changes I'll call you."

She did need a shower, and if he said he was going to rest she was about ninety-eight percent sure that's what he was going to do. "Do you promise you're only going to rest? Nothing else?"

"I might eat something."

"But that's it?"

"Yes, Darcy, that's it." Reaching out he tucked her hair behind her ear. "I promise. Stop worrying. Go rest for a little while."

"All right. I'll come back in the morning."

"You don't need to."

Yeah, she really did need to. She turned toward the door. "I'll come back in the morning." She repeated as she stepped out onto the porch. Shutting the door behind her she dragged herself to the car she managed to drive herself home, throw her bag in a corner, and take a brief shower before collapsing on her bed. She was so tired she didn't even pull the blanket over herself. She simply collapsed in a heap on top of them, but she figured it was L.A. so she didn't really need to be any warmer than what she was right now. Besides, she'd turned off her air conditioner while she was gone so her house was pretty warm, it would take a couple of hours to cool down again.

When she woke up she felt a warm weight over her aching body and cracked an eye open. The quilt that had been folded at the end of her bed, the one thing she had inherited from her grandmother, had been put over her. Looking around she noticed her clock read eleven thirty. Someone had turned off her alarm. She had slept nearly five hours longer than she was supposed to, she should have been over at David's hours ago. Sitting up, she pushed the blanket off her and reached to her bedside table. Opening the drawer she popped open the panel in the bottom and removed her gun. Turning the safety off she crept to the door.

Pushing it open quietly she checked the hall in both directions before sliding out with her back against the wall. She heard a small sound coming from her kitchen and paused briefly before regaining her composure. Getting to the end of the hall she stepped out with the gun pointed toward the sound she had heard. McNorris was sitting on one of her barstools and taking notes on a case file he had open.

She dropped the barrel to the ground immediately and flicked the safety on. He heard the small click of the metal and looked up. He took in her stiff posture and the gun and spun the pen around his finger. "Not even a warning to try to scare me off?"

No, there would be no warnings. If someone was in her house that wasn't supposed to be she was going to shoot them once in the head and be done with it. She'd seen what happened when hesitation occurred. It got people killed. Jason should have known better than to try to scare someone off, but that was in the past and she didn't want to think about Jason anymore. She had just run out of steam being upset over his death. He was gone, she was here, and that's all there was left. She wasn't going to blame either of them on what happened anymore. They had both screwed up and they had both paid for their stupidity. It was over now and she had other things to worry about.

"You shouldn't break into my house. Eventually, I'm going to kill you on accident. I'll get you a key later this week, okay?" She returned to her room long enough to put the gun away before returning to the kitchen. Going to her fridge she pulled out a soda and sat down next to him. "You shouldn't be working right now."

"And you should still be sleeping."

That was a crazy thing to say. She'd slept more in the last day than she had since before she moved here. "I slept for fourteen hours."

He flipped the page. "You still have circles under your eyes. You didn't sleep enough."

Well that made her feel real pretty. "I'm part raccoon. Didn't you know?"

"That explains everything. I'm surprised I haven't found you digging through a trash can looking for treats." He scribbled something down and she reached out slowly and slid the file to her. He watched her as she shut the folder and put it under her crossed arms before laying her head down on them. She was now blocking him from touching it. "What do you think you're doing?"

She figured that was fairly obvious. "Stopping you from working."

He sighed in annoyance and tried to take the file. She snapped her teeth at his fingers when they got close and he whipped his hand away quickly. Smirking in triumph, she buried her head deeper into her arms. "You're impossible." He accused.

"You like that." He rolled his eyes and she laughed softly. "Have you ever met another impossible person?"

"Yes, several. You happen to be the only one that I like."

She batted her eyes at him in a ridiculous manner. "Aw! I feel special!"

His lip twitched slightly. "Did you ride the short bus to school as a child?"

He was so snarky. That meant he felt better, which made her feel better. "If my hand wasn't in a cast I would punch you."

"No you wouldn't." He reached out and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. His thumb brushed over her cheek momentarily before he pulled away.

Okay, she would admit that was a lie. No point in pretending otherwise. "Fine, I wouldn't."

"You're too nice for your own good." She didn't respond to that. It was true in some ways and very untrue in others. She thought maybe it was weighed more toward being untrue than the other way around. When she felt threatened she didn't think she was very nice at all. Considering she felt threatened pretty often, at least in comparison to most people, she thought he was mistaken in his assessment of her character. His blue eyes watched her as she turned the concept over in her head. He broke into her thoughts. "You don't seem to think so."

She shrugged and reached for her soda. Opening it with her elbows firmly on the file so he couldn't snatch it away she took a drink and enjoyed the caffeine hitting her system. She noticed he was still a little pasty, but he looked a whole lot better than he did when she left him yesterday. "How's your chest?"

"Better. It still feels like someone punched the inside of my ribcage though."

She wrinkled her nose at the description and hoped she never had a heart attack. That didn't sound very fun at all. "That sucks."

He didn't seem overly concerned with the pain, but then, pain didn't affect him the same way it did everybody else. He had a freaking high tolerance for it, and she was sure, after seeing him boxing at the gym on more than one occasion, that he enjoyed it to a certain extent. The pain made him feel alive, sometimes he went looking for it. For him, it could be like a high, and without alcohol it was as close as he was ever going to get to a buzz. A surge of hatred toward his father ran through her briefly for doing that to him, but she figured as long as ghost boy found his release at the gym it was okay. "I'm alive."

"Indeed you are."

"Thanks to you." She raised an eyebrow as she sipped her drink. He stared into her eyes. "The doctor told me what you did."

"What did I do exactly?" She honesty didn't know what he was talking about.

"You kept my blood flowing through me until the paramedics got there. You diagnosed what was wrong with me, and you managed to tell them what happened to us even though you were hurt and disoriented from all the drugs in your system."

She set the can on the counter and put her head back on her arms. She felt tired all over again. "Don't look at me that way. I couldn't let you die."

"How did you know what to do to keep me alive?"

"I do read." She poked at the nearly full can of soda. "I like medical stuff."

"You read about getting someone's heart beating again and you could just do it?"

"I must have gotten lucky." She tried to throw him off. "It was a pretty detailed description of what to do. Go medical texts and step-by-step instructions. Woo ho."

"Why do you try to lie to me? You're good, but you're not that good." The calculating look was there. "You knew I was about to go into cardiac arrest before I did and you preformed CPR while you waited for the paramedics, with a broken wrist. How much worse did you make it doing that?"

"It's only a bone, McNorris. They heal a lot better than the cardiovascular system does and I wasn't going to die if I made it a little worse. I made a logical decision."

"I don't believe you were thinking clearly enough to be logical."

"And you could tell because you were unconscious. It must have given you special insight into the situation." She said sarcastically.

"I didn't need to see you. I know how your mind works."

"Do you? I didn't realize you were psychic. Who knew?"

He cocked his head to the side as she got snippy. "You're grumpy today. I knew you hadn't slept enough." He reached out to her again and she turned her head away before he could touch her, annoyed with him for no reason she could identify.

"I'm fine." She grumbled as she shifted in her seat.

He noticed the movement. "You're not tired, you're sore." He sighed and got up. "Where are the pain killers the doctor gave you? I saw you put them in your purse."

She'd already flushed the lot of those down the toilet, had done it at the hospital before she left to get their things. She wasn't letting those little mind benders sit around her house, or her car, or her hotel, or her purse. She'd rather they be far away from her. "I'm fine, ghost boy."

"You're beaten black and blue and your wrist is broken. You aren't fine."

"I'm fine." She instisted.

He rolled his eyes and looked into her cabinet, where she kept her aspirin. He didn't see anything but the nearly full bottle of low level painkillers and started searching for her bag. "You'll be better company when you aren't in pain."

"We're in _my_ kitchen. I'm not the company here, you are."

He spotted her purse on a chair in her living room from the doorway of the kitchen and went and got it. A moment later he had it sitting in front of her. "There, take one."

"I don't have any left." She shrugged and sipped her soda. "I only got five pills. I took them all."

He blinked before he stared at her. "You had a whole bottle full. I saw them."

She crinkled her forehead as if she were confused. "No, I didn't."

He wasn't at all convinced. "Yes, you did. I was right there when the doctor handed them to you."

"Ghost boy, you were more drugged up than I thought." She sent him a crooked smile that didn't throw him at all. All it did was make him hyper suspicious.

"Where'd the pills go, Darcy?"

"I told you they're gone."

His eyes flashed as she flat out lied to him. She'd never done that before. Not flat out to his face. Usually when she didn't want to talk about something she changed the subject or told him she didn't want to talk. She didn't lie to him with such obvious in-expertise. She blamed the pain for throwing her off her game. "Gone where?"

She frowned at his sudden shift to probing. He wasn't letting her wiggle out of this. "You're going to give yourself another heart attack. Relax."

His hand snapped out as he caught her chin. "Tell me where they are. Did you take all of those?" He was searching her eyes and she tried to pull away. He held her tightly and his face cleared of anger. "Darcy, I won't be mad if you did, just tell me."

"I didn't take any!" She snapped as she shoved his hands away. "I flushed them down the drain, okay?"

He eased himself back onto the stool. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I didn't want them near me! Why can't you ever leave anything alone?" It was her turn to stand up and she was stepping away when he caught her around the waist. Pulling her to him he made her face him.

"Hey, hey, easy. I'm sorry, okay?"

"That just makes everything better doesn't it?" She was upset and ashamed of what she was sure he had already worked out.

"I don't think it makes anything okay." He was trying to sooth her, his hand running gently over her arm. "Did you get hooked on pain pills?"

She rubbed at her face before running her hands up into her hair. She was quiet for a long time as she looked down at his shoulder and her hands rested in an awkward way around own body. Technically, she hadn't gotten addicted to them, not all the way. But it had been a dangerously close thing. She had been in the hospital for quite some time after Jason died. When she finally got out, and the nurses weren't helping her regulate the pain meds, she started taking way too many. She'd needed to stop thinking and the pills had certainly done that for her.

Once she worked out what was happening she'd called Darren in a near panic. He'd come over to her house immediately, leaving God knows what that was happening at their work, and found her sobbing hysterically on her couch. Considering what she'd been through he wasn't all that surprised by the tears. What did surprise him was her shoving a bottle into his hand and her tearful demands for him to take it far away and tell her doctor not to give her anything like that ever again. Darren had reluctantly agreed and done what she asked despite the state she was in.

But she wasn't going to tell the attorney any of that. So instead she nodded in confirmation. Saying yes was a lot less complicated. "I don't want to talk about this, David."

He didn't push after that. "Then we won't talk about it. Are you comfortable taking some aspirin? Can you do that or not?"

"Aspirin are okay sometimes." She said quietly, still not looking at him. "That's why I keep them here. I only take them when my headaches get really bad."

"All right." He kissed her forehead. "You don't need to be embarrassed. I get it. We won't talk about it if you don't want to."

"Thank you."

"Who better to understand addiction than an alcoholic?"

That was true. She supposed there was no reason to feel stupid, pathetic, or out of control about what had happened where he was concerned. He wasn't going to judge her about this. Leaning forward as she went after the acceptance he was offering, she nodded again. He pulled her into a hug and she realized her error. Her ribs were broken and she let out a small yelp of pain as he squeezed her.

He let her go at once and she winched as she stepped away. "What happened?"

"Nothing, I'm sorry. I'm bruised is all." She cradled her side unhappily. She wasn't going to tell him her ribs were broken again, she figured the first few minutes after he woke up in the hospital were muddled, but he did remember she was hurt. He would accept that she was bruised without question. "Maybe now would be a good time to take the aspirin."

"I didn't mean to hurt you." She saw guilt and concern flash over his face.

"No big deal. It was an accident." She gave him a lopsided smile, feeling worn out again all at once. "You're right. I'm still tired. I think I'm going to go back to sleep. If you leave lock the door."

"All right, baby doll." He watched as she got the mild painkillers out and took two of them. "We'll go get something to eat when you wake up. Sound good?"

It really did sound good. "I would like that. Can we go get pizza?" She had a sudden and intense craving for one.

"Only if we can get a real pizza and not some vegan nightmare. I'm not eating anything with soy cheese again."

She huffed at him. "Like you even knew before I told you, but okay, deal, pepperoni and peppers it is." She took the file off her counter. "And you're done working. Watch TV or take a nap."

"I can't sleep on your couch. It's too small."

She rolled her eyes. She knew he was more than capable of sleeping there since he'd done it before. "Cry baby." Grabbing his wrist she dragged him after her. "Come on then. I guess letting you sleep with me after a crazy week in Vegas is acceptable."

"Do I get to see you nake-"

"No."

He sighed tragically before getting optimistic. "Maybe next time."

She rolled her eyes as she let him go and crawled to the right hand side of the bed. As she pulled her quilt back over her shoulders she tried to ignore the small voice in her head that told her next time he just might get to see her without her clothes. Cursing the voice she turned her back to him and yawned.

She really needed to keep thoughts like that to herself. If she didn't this could get complicated fast. She needed another complication in her life the way she needed another cracked rib. If they did sleep together she wasn't sure how it would end, wasn't sure she wouldn't panic from the intensity of it, or if he would be able to deal with her if she did loose it. McNorris was good at a lot of things but she'd never seem him deal well with a hysteric woman.

Eventually he would see her that way if this got any more intimate. He'd already seen her express more emotion than nearly any other person she'd ever known. She shouldn't let him get closer; he didn't deserve to get stuck with her instability. But then he twisted and carefully tugged her back to him so he could spoon up around her back and she knew the whole thing was a lost cause. Maybe she could delay the inevitable for a little while longer for the sake of her own sanity, and his.


	19. Altercation: Month Seventeen

Disclaimer: Boomtown is not mine.

**19. Altercation–Month Seventeen**

McNorris had to stop breaking in at odd hours of the night like this. She should shoot him in the leg to make a point. She lowered her gun as she spotted the back of his too blond head. He was sitting on her couch staring out her living room window. Putting the gun on a table as she passed it she moved in front of him, annoyed. She was tired of worrying about what to fall asleep in that would be both appropriate and cute should he drop by for a chat at three in the morning, again. She was used to sleeping in baggy t-shirts and panties. That wasn't going to fly if he walked in on her. She refused to think about why she cared if she looked cute. It would only lead to bad thoughts.

"McNorris, how many times do I have to tell you not to break-"

She stopped talking when she got a good look at him in the shadows of the room. His hands were wrapped in white sports tape and he wasn't dressed like he normally was. His suit and tie had been replaced by a sweat soaked long sleeved t-shirt and long, loose cotton pants. There was blood starting to well up out of the bandages over his knuckles and there were a few drops on his shirt. He had a new shiner on his jaw, and that was bruising pretty nicely as well.

He didn't move, or acknowledge she was standing next to him, but she knew he heard her. Stepping in front of him she bent down and caught his chin with gentle fingers. She tilted his head up so she could inspect the injury more carefully; the bruise wasn't even close to being done spreading. He let her hold him still, which, at this moment, didn't surprise her. He wasn't done punishing himself for whatever was going on. He wanted to be scolded, abused, and put in his place, or at least the place he thought he deserved to be. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen with her. He should have known that before he came in, and that only made her more concerned about his current state of mind. So she started with a simple question and figured she could work her way into deeper issues a little at a time. "Did you get this at Sharkies?"

"No."

She wanted to know if he got it before or after he went to the gym, because he had definitely been there at some point. He wouldn't wear his gym clothes anywhere else, not as vain as he was. "Is anyone dead or seriously injured?"

"No."

That was good. It would be hard to help him with that; although she did have a shovel out in her garage should burying a body become necessary. "Are you going to tell me who hit you?"

"Hechler."

She suppressed a laugh but couldn't stop her lip from curling up at the corner. How unsurprising that he got in a fight with Ray. Who else would be as willing and ecstatic to knock him senseless than the middle-aged cop? "Did you win?"

"I'm not sure."

Fair enough. "Do you feel better now that you and Ray walloped on each other?" It was a rather long time coming in her opinion. Maybe now they would be able to work together without all the hostility. Men were odd that way. They got in fistfights and then were suddenly cool with one another. She'd yet to see a woman take the same approach to a physical altercation.

"No." She heard the guilt in his voice. That was better than anger or disappointment right at this moment. The guilt would at least keep him from doing anything else stupid for a couple of hours. That would give her time to talk him down, and at least he got in a fight with Ray. The cop had his own set of principals he operated under. He would keep the fight a personal thing between the two of them. No charges, no stories despite the man's love of exaggeration, and no blackmail. That wasn't part of Ray's makeup. They fought and now it would be over until the next time one or both of them needed to blow off some steam.

She patted his bruised jaw and he winced but didn't turn his head away from her. "That's not done swelling by a long shot. Do you want an ice pack or would you prefer it hurting?"

He stared into her eyes as she waited for an answer. Then, to her absolute surprise, he caught her around the waist and pulled her onto his lap. She squeaked in shock as she flailed but didn't try to escape as her legs ended up on either side of his. He lowered his head and rested it on her shoulder before she managed to catch her balance. Her eyes softened at his silent plea. She wondered if he had ever searched for comfort before and gotten what he needed, or if he had always ended up alone in his own head. She knew, from personal experience, that getting stuck their could be worse than almost any other punishment someone else could come up with, almost.

Reaching up she put one of her arms around his shoulders and ran the other one, the one that wasn't still in a cast, up into his hair. A shuddering sigh escaped him and she started to stroke his scalp gently, lightly pulling at his pale locks so small shocks of sensation would run down his spine. His hands tightened around her hips hard and she fought back a shout as she gently admonished him. She knew he had no idea that he was being too rough, he was too caught up in whatever he was thinking about. "Careful, David. You're hurting me."

He let her go so fast she barely had time to catch his arms. She quietly wrapped them around her waist so he was hugging her instead of holding her. His shoulders were tense and she returned her hands to their original position. She must have sat there soothing him patiently for half an hour before he started to relax at all. Having never touched him when he was worked up she wondered if he was always this tense or if he was more upset now than he usually was. At the moment she was guessing it was the second one. Slowly, she felt the tenseness in his muscles begin to drain away and started to massage the long muscles at the base of his neck with practiced ease.

He let out a slow breath and ran one of his wrapped hands up and down her back. She didn't say anything but she knew where his mind was heading. He probably couldn't help himself. He was too conditioned. To McNorris pain ultimately led to pleasure. His father had trained him to be proud when he could take the pain. His mother had cooed and simpered over him when he'd been hurt. And later, when he was older, he had probably come home bloody on more than one occasion to have his ex-wife pampering him before he took her to bed. That was just how it had been for him. She had more than a sneaking suspicion McNorris and Marian had never talked about why he did that, or why he had come home bloody in the first place.

Her one encounter with Marian had told her two things. She was very sweet, and horrible for the DDA in every way. She didn't blame the woman. She blamed David. Marian was a genuinely nice person. She should have married someone a lot less complicated the first time, she would have been a lot happier. Then again David tended to get what he wanted, and when they got married he had wanted a pretty, compliant woman on his arm regardless of their compatibility. He had made himself everything she could want. Like always he had made himself into a lie. Thus, the beginning of trouble for both of them. For a smart man he really was an idiot.

When he kissed the base of her neck and his hand strayed up to the spaghetti strap on her nightgown she made sure he understood that wasn't going to be happening. "No." He stilled all over. She continued to massage him as if nothing had happened. She could sense his confusion in the way he was holding her. Giving him a second to process, she continued. "I'm not here for you to loose yourself in." Her hands never stopped moving. "We can sit here, or talk and sit here. We can even get you cleaned up if that's what you want, but all our clothes are staying on. Making yourself forget whatever has you upset is only going to make you feel better until tomorrow, and then you'll feel ten times worse for sleeping with me. I'm not going to be part of your pity party and I'm not going to debase myself. So what do you want to do?"

His head never left her shoulder. "You're angry?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You needed to be with someone you trust. I understand that. I also understand that for you pain is only half of what you need." She paused for a second. "Sex doesn't equate to understanding or love, David. Sometimes it's just fucking."

His arms tightened slightly. "Never had a one night stand did you?"

"Yes. I found it to be both exciting and depressing all at the same time."

He laughed and raised his head for the first time since he had tugged her over him. "That's about right."

She shrugged. "We both got what we wanted out of it. No harm no foul. This isn't the same."

"No."

"Okay then. I promise I'm perfectly capable of understanding that you need companionship at the moment. We're both capable of being friendly and dressed at the same time. So, do you want me to look at your hand or would you prefer to sit here and sweat on my couch?"

He seemed to suddenly realize the state he was in. She had certainly encountered him smelling better than he did right now. "I'm sorry."

Her lip twitched. "It's a couch. You're supposed to sit on it. That's the whole point unless someone decided to install a couch as a piece of modern art, which I have to tell you I never understood. I don't care what they say about testing the limits of what a couch really is. It's a freaking couch. Come on."

His lip twitched into a smile as his thumb circled her over her shirt. She was sure that was subconscious, he wasn't trying to get her nightgown off anymore. "You don't like art?"

"Telling me a couch isn't a couch isn't art. That's annoying. Did someone actually make money off that? Paint a picture for Christ sake. Hell, paint a picture of Christ. I bet they didn't even make the couch to begin with."

He chuckled. "The things that run through your head amaze me."

"It's because I'm awesome, I know." She patted his shoulder reassuringly. "We can't all be cool, McNorris."

"More like ridiculous." He continued to look at her. "I'm not sure what to do with you anymore."

"Does something need to be done?" She asked with honest curiosity. She would love to know what he was thinking needed to change, or more importantly, how he intended to change it.

His head tilted to the side and he lifted one of his wrapped hands to push her sleep-mussed hair behind her ear. "I definitely need to do something."

"Hmmm. I'm rather afraid to ask, but you know I will anyway."

"And ruin the surprise?"

She raised her eyebrow. "I don't really like surprises. There's always alarm and possible punching when I'm frightened. Do you really think you need another bruise on your face? Because I might give you one on accident."

His lips curled up. "I suppose I wouldn't enjoy that. You'd knock me senseless I'm sure."

"Please, I'm all small and out of practice."

He barked out a laugh. "Now I know you would knock me out." He watched her with interest. "Tell me where you learned that."

"Learned what?"

"How to fight. How did you learn how to fight?"

"The same way everybody else does." She shrugged. "I practiced, then got some real world experience. Did you learn a different way? Perhaps via osmosis?" She taped his nose good-naturedly. "That's very smart of you, David."

He sighed as she once again avoided his question. "You know you can't hide behind these quirks of yours forever. Eventually, I'm going to learn something."

She tried to lighten the mood. "Of course I can. The amount I have are so vast and varied it's a wonder I can fight my way out to normal people on occasion."

He sighed. "I hope I never have you as a suspect. I don't think I would win."

"I'm a little flattered right now."

"You should be very flattered." She huffed at his backhanded praise of himself and he grinned more fully. His gloomy mood lifted all at once and she felt better about his state of mind. He caught sight of his hand and stretched his fingers experimentally. "Would you fix me? If you aren't going to sleep with me I may need to use this in order to get some rest tonight."

"Okay, that was a total over share." She scrambled off of him. "I'm never touching you again."

He laughed evilly as he stood up and followed her to the bathroom. "You've touched me before after I-"

"Stop it!" She made a gagging sound. "I don't want to know about your solo activities."

"You act like you don't get yourself off."

"Okay, one, we both know everyone has their special happy time, and two, I refuse to continue on with this conversation."

He continued to chuckle. "You're no fun. I'm beat up here. You should make me feel better."

"You wanted to get all beat up. I don't want to hear it."

"You could at least pretend sympathy."

"What would that accomplish?" They made it into the bathroom and she pointed to the toilet after she flipped the light on. "Sit."

"I would be a happier person."

"Please. You got in a fight with a man that drives you crazy and then got to hold me in your lap. You're fine."

"It was fun. It could have been more than that." He reached for her and his hands settled over her hips. He started to drag her toward him and she was grateful her ribs were all but healed. If they hadn't been his grabbing would have hurt. "It could still be more than that."

She rolled her eyes as she smacked his hands away. "If you get this nighty bloody you will replace it. I never can get bloodstains out of anything. I don't have that type of laundering skill." She dug out the med kit once she was free. She tried to brush off his advances even as her mind told her that crawling in his lap again wouldn't be the worst thing ever. "And you're back on this again? I thought we covered this before being drugged and ditched in the land of no rain and many slot machines."

"As I recall you said you wanted more than fun. I told you I could do that."

She shot him a disbelieving glance as she found the disinfectant she'd been looking for. It had been in the very bottom of the small metal case. "Yes, clearly you've proven that by trying to seduce me covered in blood and sweat. You are such a charmer, ghost boy. I mean, some men try flowers and chocolate, but what the hell right? Go with the unexpected. After all what woman really wants to be wooed?"

He was torn between amusement and exasperation even as he came to the conclusion that she hadn't exactly said no to said wooing. She could tell he liked that even as he sulked at her. "Why won't you make this easy on me?"

"Why won't you man up and try something other than deceit or sneakiness? The questions are endless." Grabbing his wrist she tugged his hand over the sink so she could inspect it. Leaning against the counter she started to unwrap it. "This is real pretty." She held his knuckles up so he could see. "Nice array of color going on under the blood."

"Thank you."

"No problem." She started the water and set his hand down as she dug out a washcloth. "We could enter it in a modern art exhibit with the couch."

He laughed quietly and she started to mop the blood away. He watched her while she worked. "Where'd you learn to do this?"

"College, I joined the debate team."

He rolled his eyes as she got the last of the blood off. He had busted his knuckles up pretty good. It was going to take a few days for them to heal. "You were on the debate team?"

"No, but I would have been good at it." He sighed and she laughed softly, giving in to him at last. She supposed after everything they had been through he deserved some knowledge about her past. She wondered if he realized how much telling him anything meant, or if he would simply think she was addled from being woken up at such an odd hour. "I went to medical school for a couple of months."

That threw him completely. "You what?"

"Went to med school. Hands and feet were week five, bruises and cuts week two. As you can see I can actually combine the lessons I was given."

He tried to get a handle on the unexpected information. "Why did you go to med school?"

"You have to go to become a psychiatrist."

He quirked an eyebrow. "You're a psychologist."

"That is true." She grabbed some clean bandages and began to rewrap his hand. "I already had that PhD when I went to med school."

"You already had a PhD?" He was frowning. "All right, I can't work this out and I've tried. How old were you when you started college, you couldn't have been eighteen like a normal person. You would have only finished everything about two years ago if you had."

"I was fifteen."

"You started college at _fifteen_?"

She reached for his other hand as she continued. She figured this next part wouldn't be too surprising to him. Not when he knew how smart she was. "My parents were big on achievement. I'm a type A personality and lived to please the unpleasable. Thank god I was smart to begin with, otherwise I would have exploded or something."

He took that in and filed it away. "How old were you when you got your first PhD?"

"I only have one. I was twenty-two. I finished my dissertation in three years. I got fast tracked because my first employer was sponsoring me. They agreed to pay for everything if I could finish in an extra fast fashion, so I did. I couldn't have afforded it otherwise. My parents did okay but they didn't have that kind of money, and even with scholarships I don't think I could have done it waiting tables. So I agreed to go fast and work for them when I was done. You do what you have to do right?"

He nodded in agreement. "And what? You got bored when you were done and wanted a second doctorate?"

"Not exactly. I was nearly done with my first dissertation when I realized my hypothesized question could only be partially answered through psychology alone. I needed to more fully understand the biological structures and chemicals the brain produced in the lymphatic system. Sadly, not much research has gone into that. I hypothesized diet had more to do with the chemical production in the brain than anyone had looked at since most psychiatrist simply prescribe medication to the problem area in question. For instance, if you're low on a chemical that controls anger they prescribe a drug that has that chemical in it to balance you out. Which, don't get me wrong, is a great idea in theory, but most of the time people stop taking their medication because it makes them sick. I thought if I could work out specifically what was stopping the brain from making those things I could figure out how to integrate the chemical they needed in their normal diet so they wouldn't have to take as much medication…"

She trailed off when she caught sight of his face. He was looking at her as if she had suddenly grown a second head and she realized she had accidentally fallen into her excited school mode that made her seem pretty freakish in normal society. He broke the increasingly awkward silence. "Can you?"

"Can I what?"

"Change their diet?"

"Oh, I don't know. I never finished my research."

He frowned. "Why?"

"I never finished medical school so I couldn't move on to the dissertation."

He let her start to wrap his other hand. "You aren't a quitter. Why didn't you finish?"

"Things happened."

"Things?"

She sighed. "Life stuff." She finished his hand and indicated his jaw. "Do you want ice now?"

He let the line of questioning go, seeing he had reached her stopping point. He learned to quit while he was ahead with her. When he didn't bad things tended to happen, like he got exiled and she started to disappear for days at a time. "No, I'm going home to take a shower."

"Leave the bandages on for at least half an hour before you do that. You don't need them to start bleeding again." She handed him a clean roll as he stood up. "And wrap them again when you're done. They should be scabbed over by tomorrow." Her eyes twinkled. "If you need oil based concealer for your jaw I have that too."

"I think I'll make it." He leaned in and kissed her cheek after putting the bandages in his pocket. She blinked at the show of affection. "Thank you, Darcy."

"You're welcome." He moved out of the bathroom and she leaned out holding the doorframe. She grabbed at him and he moved back to her when she tugged on the back of his shirt. They weren't done yet. "Why'd you get in a fight with Ray?"

He shrugged as if it should be obvious. "Because I don't like him."

She wasn't buying that. "That's not why. Tell me why you really got in a fight with him."

He pressed his lips together. "I caught him following me when I left Sharkies. I didn't like that."

She studied him quietly. There was something he wasn't telling her. "Uh huh, and what did he say that set you off?"

"I rarely listen to what Hechler says."

"You really suck at lying to me." She said as she waited. She simply stared up at him after that. He would break soon.

Finally, he couldn't stand the eye contact anymore. "He knew I was the one that hurt you."

She frowned. "David, you didn't hurt me. Mobsters hurt me."

He shook his head. "I might as well have done it. You told me you didn't want to go to Vegas. You knew something like that would happen." His hands were back around her and he was pulling her to him. His arm slid around the small of her back and his opposite hand ran up to the back of her head. "You were afraid, and I saw it, and I made you go anyway. I shouldn't have done that." He got tense again. "I let them hurt you. I'm so sorry, Darcy." His voice cracked with remorse midway through the apology.

Reaching up she caught his face and made him look at her. "You didn't _make_ me do anything. You can't _make_ me do something, McNorris. I'm too damn stubborn for that to work, so get that thought out of that thick head of yours. I could have said no and stayed here. If I had you'd probably be dead, so I really think things worked out pretty well considering the circumstances." She rubbed her thumb over his cheek. "You protected me when they came at us."

"I shouldn't have let them near you at all." He said as he dug his heels in.

She gave him a half smile. "What are a few broken bones between friends?"

"Christ." He pulled her back into a hug and she found her face tucked into his shoulder as he held her. "You aren't funny." She felt him kiss the top of her head. "I never should have asked you to come."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "You didn't do anything wrong." He let out a humorless laugh. "David, everything is fine. Calm down. I'm not angry, I'm not that hurt, and I doubt Ray is going to mention your fight at all. Don't be upset."

"I'll stop being upset when you get that cast off." He ran his hand up under her hair and rubbed her neck. "And when you stop limping."

"I'm not limping." She lied.

"Yes, you are. You haven't worn heels since we got back. You hurt your left leg."

"Only a little bit." She sighed into his shirt. "But it's okay, I've been hurt worse than this before."

He nuzzled his face into her hair. "I know you have." He whispered quietly, his tone full of regret, even though he didn't know how or why she'd been hurt. "You don't deserve to hurt, Darcy."

"Not many people do." She answered just as softly. Squeezing him tightly she loosened her grip. "Are you okay now?"

He set his hand on the side of her face. "I'm fine. I'm sorry I woke you up, you don't get enough sleep as it is."

"Hey, no worries. I'm used to it. An extra cup of coffee in the morning and I'll be good."

His lip twitched. "An extra cup of coffee and you'll vibrate out of your skin."

An impish smile played over her lips. "That could be fun for you to watch."

"True." Leaning in he kissed her carefully. Surprised by the gentle touch, when he was usually so demanding, she closed her eyes and relaxed. His body loosened when she didn't push him away and he moved his lips away for a brief moment before coming back again. Butterflies floated around her stomach and she let out a soft sound of approval. Moving his head he nuzzled his face into her hair, tickling her cheek as his slight stubble rubbed against her skin. When her hands bunched in his shirt he let out a soft breath. "You'll hate me for this tomorrow if we don't stop."

"In all likelihood I will." She agreed.

He ran his hand over her back and kissed her one more time. "I should go. We can talk about this tomorrow." She nodded, that would be better. He would be stable and she would be awake. He kissed her one more time, as if he were afraid she would never let him do this again. "Do you want to meet for breakfast?"

"Sure." She agreed with ease. He let her go reluctantly and turned to go. "And, McNorris?" He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Next time knock." He simply grinned and continued to the door. She already knew he'd be breaking in again. Damn it. She needed more nightgowns.


	20. Sway: Month Seventeen

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**20. Sway–Month Seventeen**

When she got into work the next day chugging coffee, since she had missed a rather large chunk of her sleep cycle, she didn't immediately notice the stares she was getting. About halfway to her office she slowed to a stop and looked around the bullpen. The rest of the bullpen stared back, or exchanged glances with one another. Tom was one of the ones staring at her, and was the closest, so she asked him what was going on. "Okay what? Is there something on me?"

She stared inspecting her clothes; worried she'd gotten syrup on her or something. She was sometimes known to be clumsy this early in the morning, so finding she had spilled part of her pancakes on herself, at a breakfast where the DDA had flat out refused to talk about last night, wouldn't surprise her in the slightest. As she looked down at her suit he answered. "Nope."

She lifted her head back up, relieved she wouldn't have to go to the drycleaners as soon as work was over. "Then what's happening here?"

Tom's lip curled up in a roguish smile. "You got a gift. I think most of us are wandering who it's from." The cop waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I think Travis is jealous."

She raised an eyebrow. She didn't want to contemplate a lovesick Travis, it was too disturbing. A present was a totally different thing though. She very much liked presents. "A gift?"

"It's in your office." He pointed to the room as if she forgot where she worked after all this time. Clearly, she needed to make a better impression with Tom.

Intrigued, she walked in to find a ridiculously beautiful display of flowers sitting on her desk. White roses were expertly mixed with orange tiger lilies and bright pink Gerber daisies, her favorite flower. They sat happily in a bright teal vase that made her smile. It was so cheery and the color only set off the flowers more. Moving forward she set her coffee down and picked out the small card tucked into the blossoms. Opening the envelope, which she could see hadn't been tampered with by the curious cops, she read it with Tom leaning in the door watching her.

_Flowers for an unexpected beauty._

It wasn't signed but she knew exactly who these were from. The double meaning was impressive. On second thought there were more than two layers to it. He had sent her flowers because she said that was what she expected from someone interested in her. He made sure to get her daisies because he knew they were her favorite. He got her roses because he wanted to be clear it was romantic, and the tiger lilies were there to emphasize the exotic appeal he found in her. The message had other meanings. He was stating rather clearly that he wanted her for more than her looks. She was sure the use of the word unexpected wasn't referring to her physical appearance, which he knew would appeal to her geeky side. Clever man.

"Who are they from?"

She slipped the note in her back pocket before Tom could get close enough to read it. "No one."

Tom turned his head to the other room and shouted so they could all hear what he had to say. "She won't tell!"

A chorus of boos and ahhs met the statement and she rolled her eyes. Leaning out the door she shoved Tom away. "Shut it! Mind your own business, you snoops!"

Another round of catcalls and disappointment met her demand. Grumbling, she picked her coffee up again and sat at her desk. Then she realized that was a bust, it was in the way, and got up to set the vase on top a filing cabinet. The flowers sat there being pretty and she turned her attention to her work for a moment before her eyes slid unwillingly back to the blossoms. Shaking her head she opened a report on her desk. This was nuts; she could focus with criminals, murders, and psychopaths all over the place but not when there were flowers here. Muttering under her breath about her well-hidden, but deeply ingrained romantic side she began to type up an assessment. She would ignore those flowers and all the connotations they came with. She could deal with that after she got off work. Right now she had some things to do.

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There was a knock at her front door as the sun started to sink behind the horizon. Leaving the kitchen where she was fixing up her dinner she walked to her entryway hall and looked through the peephole. Her eyebrow popped up. Unlocking the door she opened it and looked at McNorris. "You can use the door?" She glanced about the doorway with a look of false bafflement.

His lip twitched. "Can I come in?"

"Since you knocked I suppose you can. Maybe tomorrow I can teach you about the doorbell. It's an amazing innovation in door technology. And hey, you're smart, I think you'll get it without much of a problem." She moved away and he followed her inside as the twitched turned into a full smile. She made her way to back to the kitchen so she could finish the salad she had been working on as he tailed her. "Do you want dinner?"

He eyed the vegetables. He didn't' seem to keen on the assortment of veggies she had, which she took a little offence to. She had a very wide assortment of produce to work with. One nice thing about California was the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables she had access to. At this time of the year the northern states just didn't have these kinds of options, and certainly not such high quality ones. "Salad?"

"I'm going to put grilled chicken over it. What is it with men and eating green leafy vegetables? Is it gross, or is there a man taboo going on I'm unaware of?"

"It's not filling." He sat down on one of the barstools. "I assume the majority of us would prefer to be full after we eat. Salad doesn't do the job."

She supposed she could follow that logic. Men, by nature, tended to need more calories than women, and McNorris wasn't small. He probably burned at least twice as many calories as she did in a day, especially if he went to the gym. And she knew he'd gone to the gym today by the tell-tell red marks on his knuckles the tape left. Those always took at least two hours to fade away. "Right." She used the knife she was chopping with to indicate the romaine. "Yes or no to food?"

"Yes."

"Okay." She pulled out more leaves and continued to chop to make enough for both of them, and her lunch tomorrow. There was no point in wasting time making yet another meal when she could eat leftovers with such ease. She moved quickly and dumped the lot in a bigger bowl she dug out of a cupboard in less than twenty seconds. She moved on to the spinach. "Is there anything out you don't like?"

He glanced over the selection. "Onions."

"I've seen you eat onions."

"I don't like them in salads."

She nodded in acceptance, and when she was done dumping spinach in the large bowl, put the onions away. They weren't her favorite things anyway so she wasn't heartbroken by their absence. Returning to her cutting board she moved on to carrots. "So what's up, McNorris?"

"Nothing of interest."

"Simply a social visit then?"

"Is it so surprising I want to be in your company?" He asked.

"Not after that flower display you sent me. Very subtle."

He smiled. "Did you like them?"

She darted a glance at him from under her lashes and his smile broadened. "You know I did. They were very pretty. I also enjoyed being harassed and poked at by cops and detectives all day about who sent them."

His grin widened. "I'm sure you loved beating them away. It gave you something fun to do with your time."

She rolled her eyes and finished with the salad. Putting it in the fridge she pulled out the chicken, happy she had defrosted as much as she had, and headed to her patio. The grill was already hot and she put the chicken on it with quick efficiency. Finished, she went inside again. "I never envisioned you grilling." The attorney said.

"I like to grill. I'm better with one than an oven."

"You don't use the stove?"

"I use the stove. It just doesn't tend to end as well as anything I cook on the grill. I hypothesize that my inner cavewoman enjoys the prospect of the open flames."

She could tell he liked that answer. "I could see you succeeding very well in the Stone Age. You'd probably kill a mammoth on a weekly basis."

"Hey, a girls gotta eat. I bet mammoth was a tasty treat." She thought about that. "You know, I'd actually like to try that. Too bad they're extinct."

"You mean lucky. Those poor things, you'd kill them all if they weren't already dead."

"I disagree. If they tasted good I would start a ranch. Think of them as really big cows." He shook his head at that image and she continued. "You could help. I bet you could pull off a cowboy hat."

"I don't think so."

"You're no fun. I bet I can get you in one for Halloween."

She could tell from the look on his face that it wasn't going to happen unless she got some serious dirty on him. "I don't dress up for Halloween."

She cocked her head to the side. "Why not? Halloween is, like, the best holiday ever. I mean really, thank the pagans and all their gods for it. That day rocks hardcore."

"It's a useless holiday."

She eyed him. "No, it's a fun holiday. Didn't you like to trick or treat when you were little?"

"When I was seven, yes. I don't see why grown people need to dress up. If you want to get off that way then do it in private."

"You're such a buzz kill, ghost boy. You need to relax a little." She spotted her chicken starting to smoke and left long enough to flip it over before returning and picking up the conversation as if there hadn't been a break. "It's supposed to be fun." He grunted, unconvinced, and she shook her head. "Fine, be contrary, see if I care. I for one will always love Halloween."

"Whatever you say, Darcy."

"I say, ghost boy." She pushed him gently off the stool he was sitting in. "Help me set the table, please."

He got up willingly enough and by the time they had the table set the chicken was done. She brought it in, and the wonderful smell it was letting off, and they had a pleasant meal. She asked him about his day and he told her, complaining about his newest competition for the DA position, Gary. She herself didn't much care for Gary. He let out bad vibes, sleazy vibes, vibes that just made her skin crawl. He wasn't a killer, she would be able to tell if he was, but he wasn't someone she wanted to get near unless she had to. She was a tad disappointed he didn't get caged with Conk, but you couldn't have everything.

Gathering their dishes when they finished she rinsed them off quickly and put them in the dishwasher. It was nice that most of them would go in there. When she was done she wiped her hands off on a towel. "Do you want to do something?"

He stopped inspecting her placemats. She had sent him back to the table after he carried everything to the counter for her. Not that she didn't appreciate the help but it was easier for her to move about by herself than having him bumping into her while he tried to help her clean. "Like what?"

"What do you normally do for fun?" She leaned over the counter and watched him while she asked. "Other than play board games with me?"

"I box."

No? Really? "Yeah, other than that though. You know I'm not about to box with you."

"I actually think that would be fun. Maybe we should spar."

"No way. You wouldn't be a good sparing partner at all. You wouldn't try to hit me, not really."

He shrugged in agreement. After a moment of thought he answered her original question. "I read. I like to work on cars when I have the time, not that I've really had any since I moved here."

"Cars?"

He shrugged. "I grew up in rough neighborhood. There wasn't much to do that we could afford. No one had any money. My friends and I used to work on engines. It was a legal and encouraged past time."

That was a pretty useful skill if you asked her. She knew practically nothing about cars, although Jason had taught her how to change a tire in case of an emergency. However, that was as far as her lessons on automobiles had ever gone. Considering how patient ghost boy had been teaching her how to play board games she would wager he would be equally as patient teaching her about how cars worked. "Maybe one day you can show me how to change my oil."

"You want me to teach you?"

"I like to learn things." She replied with absolute honesty. "You seem to like to teach me."

"That would explain the multiple degrees and a doctorate. Not to mention med school." He went to the fridge and got out her tea pitcher. He filled both their glasses back up as he spoke. "And you're easy to teach. That big brain of yours only needs to be shown something once, twice at the very most."

"Are you complementing me or teasing me?"

"A little of both." He drummed his fingers. "Do you play poker?"

She grinned, that was a game she knew how to play. "No, I win poker."

A challenging glint appeared in his eye. "No one wins against me."

"Wanna put that theory to the test, ghost boy?"

"What do I get if I win?"

"Putting up the stakes already?" She crossed her arms and leaned back into the counter. "Aren't we confident?"

His lip curled up. "I'll win." She raised her eyebrow as he set his terms for this engagement. "You let me take you out to dinner, a real dinner where I actually have the chance to get at least some of your clothes off. "

He was such a romantic. What a nice way to ask her out on a date. She considered that briefly, to make him sweat a little. Honestly, she would have agreed to that without him having to win a bet after her little revelation she had in that hospital room. Not that he had to know that. She did still have her pride even if her common sense had flown out the window a few days ago. "Because last time that went so well?"

He pointed at her. "You can't blame me for that. I didn't drug us. I planned to take you out to see a musical."

"Yeah." She sighed regretfully. "I really wanted to see that." She reconsidered. "Maybe we did see that and we don't remember. There's really no way to know what we got up to in a ten-hour period. There's no way the mob had us for long, we'd be dead if they did. That's more than a little disturbing actually." She shook her head; she hadn't even considered that until this moment. "But I really think the music would have been stuck in my head instead of the soundtrack I got if we'd made it to the theater."

"What? What music?"

"Oh." She waved her hand absently. "I had a song stuck in my head for days after that happened. It was annoying, and a little creepy."

"A song? What kind of song?"

"Wedding music mixed with some sort of carnival soundtrack. We must have passed by one of the many chapels they have. Maybe it was next to a Ferris wheel or a sideshow they have all over the place. Vegas is a totally disturbing place."

"A chapel?"

"Well consider our location, David. Not even close to being out of the realm of possibility." She pushed herself up. "I don't want to think about it, I only just got it out of my head, I don't need to start humming it again. I'll get the cards. I have some in the closet somewhere. I need to think about what I want when I win."

There was a slight pause before his confident voice followed her. "You shouldn't bother thinking about that. You won't win."

Whatever, she was totally going to kick his ass. Getting into her extra closet she started to dig around. As she searched for the elusive deck of cards, she knew they were in the box she was opening somewhere, she worked out what she wanted when she won. By the time she came out she decided.

She saw that McNorris had wiped the table clean while she was gone and pulled her coin jar off it's place on top her fridge. "I didn't think you had poker chips. Do you care if we use coins to keep track of things?"

"That's fine with me." She set the old deck of cards down and slid into her chair. "If I win I want a free pass."

He sent her a questioning look as he started sorting an equal number of coins for both of them. "A free pass? What does that mean?"

"It means one time, regardless of what's going on, if I ask you to do something you have to do it." She thought this was about the best thing she could ever get from McNorris. She didn't know when she would need such a thing, but she was sure that at some point she would be able to use it, most likely to save him from himself. So that was what she wanted, a free pass.

"Those are some high stakes, Darcy."

She relaxed back into her chair. "But consider what you might win."

She let that hang in the air and he watched her for a moment. She met his gaze levelly as he weighed the pros and cons of her offer. While he didn't know exactly what she might ask in the future he did know that if he won he would really, honest to goodness, get the chance to try to win her over. She was making it more than obvious that she would be willing to let him romance her, possibly into the bedroom, should he win. Not that sleeping with her was a sure thing, but that chance was hanging there in front of him, close enough for him to reach out and snatch.

"I'll take that bet."

She smiled broadly. "Excellent." Taking the cards out of the box she began to shuffle them quickly. When she spun them between her fingers of her good hand like the card shark she was she saw a flash of unease ripple over his expression for a millisecond. Darren had taught her that trick to intimidate her foes, and it was totally working. "This should be fun, hmm?"

"You're not scaring me doing that."

"Good, I'd hate to beat a cowering attorney. It's so much more rewarding when I can crush you in all your pompous glory."

"Deal the cards, smart ass." He shoved her pile of coins toward her. "We'll see who gets crushed."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

God damn it. She leaned back and pouted when he showed her his cards. He smirked and she eyed him as he pulled the last of her coins into his pile. "I don't like you." She stated firmly. She couldn't believe she lost. That last hand had been pure luck on his part. She should have won nearly all his money with a full house.

"Don't be mad because I beat you."

She pouted. "I don't think you beat me. I think you cheated."

"I'm hurt."

"No you're not."

"You see through me so easily." He grinned out.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't push your luck, McNorris."

He chuckled as he gathered the cards up. "I'll admit you're better at this than I thought you would be." He shuffled the deck before putting it back in the box. "You figured out my tells pretty fast."

"If by pretty fast, you mean within seconds, then yes I did." She took the deck from him and sashayed out of the room. He chuckled at her miffed attitude. When she came back he was standing and looking at his watch and her coins jar was filled back up again and in its usual place. It seemed ghost boy was a neat freak no matter where he was.

"I should go. It's late and I have to be in court at seven."

"Okay." She gave him a real smile as she let her brief annoyance over getting bested fade away as she walked him to the door. She figured she had pretty much won anyway since she wanted him to take her out. Besides, she'd had a good time playing. "This was fun."

"It was." Moving faster than she could register he stopped when they were next to the door and caught her chin. Leaning in he pressed his lips against hers as he held her face still and she closed her eyes. Warmth seeped into her stomach and his thumb ran over her skin for a few moments before he pulled away. God, he was so good at this when he wanted to be. "Goodnight."

She watched him for a second; unsure of exactly what was going on in his head. "Goodnight."

He gave her a small smile and left, shutting the door after him. Reaching out she engaged the lock and stared at the place he had occupied. She bit her lip as she considered what had happened. She had thought his interest in her was purely physical until today. He flirted with her on a regular basis, but that was just who he was. They were both single and she took his teasing in stride. Except now it wasn't teasing. He was making full on advances. He was giving her trinkets and taking her to dinner. He was kissing her in a way that told her he was willing to take this slow instead of reverting into his caveman self and taking her on the floor.

If she let this happen would he ask about her past more than he already was? Would he need to know about it if they were involved? Did she want to tell him, or anyone else about it? Didn't he have a right to know what was the matter with her if they did end up in that kind of relationship? She didn't know what the right answer was. Her happiness over going out with him melted away and was replaced with worry.


	21. Recreation: Month Seventeen

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**21. Recreation –Month Seventeen**

Pulling into the DDA's driveway she honked the old car's horn. When no one appeared she tugged out her cell phone and called him, she knew he was home, they had planned to meet here. McNorris answered on the second ring. "What?" He groused.

"You aren't very cheerful." She noted.

"I have some crazy person honking in my driveway."

"That's annoying." Her reply was chipper to say the least.

"You have no idea." She saw him walk out of his house, and as he turned to shut the door he paused. She did her level best not to laugh as she hung up the phone and got out of the car. The old Chevy was a rust bucket at best, but she knew that when she got it. It was supposed to be beat up and about to die. Leaning back against the car she made a fist and tapped the hood firmly as she grinned. He shut the door and took a step closer. She couldn't tell if he were confused or just exasperated with this. "Should I ask?"

"Happy birthday!"

"What?"

She reached out and grabbed him. Pulling him closer she put his hand on the car. He yanked it back and glared down at his palm. It was covered in rust and green paint chips. She wasn't deterred by his annoyance. This was a great present, and as soon as he worked that out he would be a very happy man. "You told me this was your first car." He eyed her like she was crazy. "Not this one specifically, but same make and model right?"

"Yes." He said slowly. He was trying to work out where this was going.

"Good, I got it right then." Pulling the pink slip out of her back pocket she handed it to him. "Have fun with her."

He glared down at the paper. "Darcy, what is this?"

"Your birthday present." She stated proudly. This might be a hunk of junk but it had still cost her a small chunk of change. Still, she thought it was well worth the money she'd been setting aside for it over the last month or so.

"You got me a pile of rust as a gift? I think coal would have been more useful, although I suppose this is the wrong season for it."

When was it ever a right time for coal in this part of California? It never got cold enough to need it. "Did all your joy and imagination just die when you hit puberty?"

"Yes." He said just to be contrary.

"Okay, now you're being purposefully obstinate." She hit his shoulder in a friendly manner. She wouldn't be deterred by him or his grouchiness, certainly not on the day honoring his birth. "I get you a perfect project and you're trying to ruin it before you even get started."

"A project?"

She slid around so she was behind him, leaning over his shoulder in an affectionate manner. "You said you used to fix cars. That it was 'an acceptable and legal past time'. I could tell you liked playing grease monkey every now and then." His lip twitched up once before he forced all his emotions away. She smirked, knowing she had him now, and left him to bend into the open window. Turning off the car she retrieved the keys and put them in his hand. She stared up into his face. "Do you like it?" She asked with real sincerity. She wanted to be sure he did.

He was quiet for a long moment as he looked the car over. His eyes softened as he absorbed what this was. "Yes, I do." Leaning in he kissed her briefly. "Thank you."

She smiled at him, pleased that he liked her surprise. "You're welcome." His eyes continued to flick over the vehicle and she knew his mind had left her completely. She wasn't hurt by it. It had taken her way to long to find him a hobby but she thought she'd hit gold with this. "I'll be inside while you two get to know each other. I'll need a ride home eventually."

"All right." She shook her head and went inside. By the time she opened the door he had the hood up and was elbow deep in the engine. He was going to ruin his shirt for sure. Oh well, as long as he was happy. He could always get a new shirt if his dry cleaner couldn't get that one clean.

Four hours later and she was halfway through a book on criminal court cases she found on his bookshelf. She was surprised that she liked it actually, but a chapter in and she was thoroughly engrossed. David came in and she looked up from the chair she had ensconced herself in. As soon as she saw him she started to laugh. He was covered in grease, even his face had smudges, and he seemed happier than she'd ever seen him. His eyes were alight with joy and he was relaxed all over.

"You're a mess, David."

"The car is a wreck." He said it with a smile, pleased in every way.

"I had noticed. It's why I bought it." As soon as she said that he swooped into her space and picked her up out of the chair. She screeched as the book tumbled to the carpet and she found herself over his very dirty shoulder. "David!" She caught sight of her shirt and wailed dramatically. "You ruined my favorite blouse!"

"I'll get you a new one." She let out a cross between a groan and a laugh as he carried her to the bedroom. "I'm going to rip this off you anyway."

"My shirt is staying on! You've only taken me out two times! That does not get any of my clothes off!"

"You're a sophisticated lady." He agreed as he took her into the bedroom, patting her rear end gleefully. "I wouldn't dream of trying to get you out of your clothes until I've taken you out at least four-"

"Six." She corrected before he could get ahead of himself.

"Six?" He asked with near horror.

"Six." She said firmly.

He sighed dramatically. "Six times." He tossed her on the bed. She bounced and grinned at him. She knew he wasn't going to push her boundaries. He had actually been shockingly considerate of them over the last few weeks. It seemed he was in this for the long haul because he wasn't even trying to coax her out of her clothes since she agreed to go out with him. As much as he teased her about getting her naked, and as sure as she was that he wanted to get her out of said clothes, he wasn't pushing, not really. She appreciated that.

They'd actually been having a lot of fun. She always had a pretty good time with him but the last few weeks were really great. On their first date he hadn't taken her to a fancy restaurant as she predicted, he hadn't even taken her out at night. He'd picked her up at eleven in the morning and taken her the aquarium. That had delighted her. She didn't care that she was closing in on thirty, she freaking liked science stuff.

When they got to the coral reef exhibit he'd made the mistake of asking her a question. That had her off on a long tangent as she happily skipped about, dragging him behind her, and telling him all about what they were looking at with textbook like accuracy. There had been a period of time when she was twelve that she wanted to be a marine biologist like her father. She knew more about fish than a normal person should ever know, but there it was. He had let her ramble with a small smile on his face and let her teach him, had even asked her more questions to keep her talking. They had ended that date with a late lunch, or early dinner, and a short kiss as he dropped her off at her door.

It had been such a good time for her that she surprised him next with her own outing. She figured he deserved to have some manly fun since he'd been so nice about taking her somewhere she liked to go. So she got a couple of tickets to go see the Dodgers. She knew it wasn't football, his sport of choice, but what could she do? It was baseball season now.

She had been briefly anxious he wouldn't like going to see a game but that had proved to be an unfounded worry. When she showed up at his door in a pair of shorts, which she knew he was pleased to see her in, and a promise of robust and macho fun he had changed into what she was sure were the one pair of jeans he owned and allowed her to kidnap him. When she pulled into the stadium he brightened, figuring out why they were here. "You brought me to a baseball game?"

She hummed as she searched for a spot. "You do like baseball don't you?"

"I do."

"Cool." She parked the car as she snuck into a spot moments before a large van tried to beat her in. She snickered evilly and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Because I like hotdogs and fireworks. I figured it would be a good time all around." His chuckle followed her as she got out of the car and they'd spent a very pleasant evening watching the game and flirting. She'd particularly liked when McNorris had scared off another man that tried to hit on her when they got up to stretch their legs in the fourth inning. He'd sent the man an icy glare, as if she might decide to run off with the stranger should he be allowed too close. She had nearly burst out laughing at the display but contained herself and pretended not to notice his possessiveness.

They'd ended that evening with another easy kiss and a gift he'd somehow managed to hide all the way back to his house. He slipped the baseball cap he'd gotten her on her head as he pulled out of the kiss. "There. Now you can tell everyone you're a Dodgers fan."

She laughed softly and pushed the brim up from where he'd covered her eyes. "I feel so native." She turned to the side so he could see her profile. "Do you think I'd pass in a crowd?"

He barked out a laugh and kissed her again, quickly, before moving back a little, giving her space. "You need to tan more to do that, but I admire the effort you're putting into it. Do you want to come in for coffee?"

She nearly rolled her eyes at the suggestion. He said coffee but he meant sex. She could see it in his eyes. Going up on her toes she found his lips again and enjoyed the warmth of him when his hands settled on her hips. When they broke away she smiled playfully up at him. "Not tonight." He nodded even as she saw frustration in his eyes. She pulled him back to her mouth and smiled into him when he growled and tried to either resist dragging her in the house or at least get her to reconsider as he put extra effort into making her moan.

She pulled away before he could make her brain shut down completely. "Tease." He said as he nipped her bottom lip.

Her smile faded a little and she told him something that was both honest and made her feel more than a little exposed. "You're going to have to let me ease into this, ghost boy."

He must have seen the nervousness in her because his frustration vanished in the blink of an eye. It was replaced with understanding so fast it had her slightly off kilter. She had expected him to expand on that before he got what she was saying, but this was McNorris. The man could read between the lines. He didn't need a reminder that she was emotionally fragile. He understood this was a big deal for her, letting him get close. He was willing to take little steps. That made her feel a lot better about this whole endeavor. "Okay."

She relaxed and patted his chest. "I had a good time tonight."

"Me too. Let's do something tomorrow."

Her eyes twinkled as he jumped to the nearest time he could reasonably see her. "And what might you want to do on your birthday?"

He was surprised she remembered. "I don't know. We can decide tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll come over around three then?" He nodded and she pecked his cheek. "You're a fun time on a date, David. I'll see you tomorrow." He watched her leave before going inside and she'd smiled nearly the whole way home.

McNorris crawled over her and kissed her hard, bringing her back in the moment with him. "Maybe I can't get your clothes of but that doesn't mean we can't spend some quality time together."

She caught his face and kissed him back. "That's true." Her eyes twinkled. "You've officially ruined your sheet too."

He grunted without concern as he kissed his way along her jaw. "I never liked this color anyway."

She shook her head in disbelief. "White? You don't like white?"

"Darcy?"

"Yes?"

"Shh." Then he kissed her again. "And it's cream."

She laughed into him, and his never-ending need to have the last word, and he smiled back. Then he started to feel her up over her clothes with gusto. She wriggled and pressed into him as he spread grease everywhere. She found she didn't care as they rolled around the sheets and laughed. This was one of the most enjoyable make out sessions she'd ever been part of. Or maybe it was just because it was David and he was being mischievous instead of all out lustful. She'd never just played with McNorris before. She usually approached him the way she would approach a minefield. With extreme caution and the knowledge that at any moment she was going to get blasted. Now… well this was fun.

A few minutes later and she ended up on top of him and sat up as she straddled his waist. He followed her up and caught her mouth with is. Humming in approval she threw her arms over his shoulders and pressed against him. His hands ran down her back and settled on her ass. Then he squeezed her. She jumped up at the feeling and he chuckled. "Very nice. The running has really done wonders for you."

She snickered. "Thank you." He grinned and flipped her, and then she was on her back again. Since her legs were already on either side of his waist she wrapped them around him snuggly and rolled her hips. He grunted in approval and she felt him get hard. Throwing her head back she sighed blissfully. She was warm all over and her body was buzzing contentedly at all the attention it was receiving. Her mind was doing pretty good too as it told her that he was doing what she'd asked, letting her ease into this. He was all over her but he wasn't trying to take any of her clothes off. He was approaching her the way he would have if they were teenagers or something. Exploring her in small steps. Testing the waters before he moved in to try to get more. He kissed her neck as he rubbed himself against her. "This feels good, David."

"I can make it feel better." He whispered into her skin as he nibbled at her neck with a level of skill no teenager in the world had.

She wouldn't be swayed by his experience though. She was sticking to her guns on this one. The slow burn was not only making her more comfortable, it would make their first time much more enjoyable. A good build up of tension could do wonders when the pressure finally exploded out. "Not for another four dates you can't."

He started laughing quietly. "Tough rules here."

"You can handle it." She rolled her hips again just to be mean.

"God damn it." He propped himself up. "You are rotten."

"I know." She tugged his head back down. "Kiss me anyway."

He did. He didn't stop until she was breathless and her head was spinning in circles either. When he did break away he settled to the mattress next to her. On impulse she ran her finger over a spot of oil and then started drawing over his arm with it.

"Hey!" She just grinned as he caught her wrist. "You're getting me dirty." He said as if he weren't covered in grease.

Giggling, she tried to continue but he twisted his arm and ended up pinning her in a bear hug. "Aw! Spoilsport!"

He kissed her cheek. "That's me. I'm as humdrum as they get."

She snorted at such a fib and turned her head. His eyes were twinkling at her. She pecked him on the lips. "I like you."

His smile broadened. "The feeling's mutual." He nuzzled her cheek. "What do you want to do for dinner?"

Wiggling her arm she got her wrist free so she could see her watch. "It's only four thirty."

"True, but I have four more dates to take you on."

"I see your point." She hummed. "I need to clean up before we do anything. Do you want to go down to the pier? They have a bunch of bands down there on the weekends."

"What kind of music?" He asked as he stroked her hair out of her face. He spent a moment putting the strands back where he thought they belonged and she relaxed as he groomed her.

"Jazz. I know you like jazz."

"That sounds fun." He kissed her. "Let me shower first. I don't think you want people mistaking me for a mechanic or a homeless person."

"Okay." He let her go after pillaging her mouth one last time, and she sighed a little regretfully as he got out of bed. She watched him as he got out some clothes. "We could stop and get you another pair of jeans on the way there."

"Why do I need another pair of jeans?"

"Because you only have one pair and I like to do things like hiking, biking, kite flying, and watching you wear them. You need more than one pair for all those things."

He huffed out a laugh. "I'll get some later if you're that fond of them." He sent her a lecherous look. "You could get something lacy."

Her lip twitched like mad. "Anything specific you have in mind or should I grab the first thing with lace I see? Who knows what I could find, bloomers, a dress, oh! Or a doily!"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, a doily is exactly what I had in mind."

"I knew you were kinky, but really, ghost boy." She joked.

He shook his head as he headed to the bathroom. She wished her bathroom was attached to her bedroom. It was a really nice feature, very convenient. "You know I'm humoring you with the jeans."

She pushed herself up so she was propped on her elbow. "I was specific in my request, David."

He paused in the doorway as he realized she wasn't just teasing him. She wanted to know what he wanted to see her in. His eyes flicked over her. "Something that leaves a few things to the imagination."

Interesting. She would have thought he would have jumped straight to raunchy with her, but apparently McNorris was the kind of man that liked to peel the paper off his presents as opposed to knowing what was in the box to start with. Still, finding something lacy that still cover parts of her could be more of a challenge than he realized, not that she didn't like a challenge. She tucked that away and stretched her arms above her head as she sat up, purposefully arching her back and sticking her chest out toward him. "I can work with that."

"Christ, you're such a tease." He said as he walked into the bathroom as he muttered more to himself than to her. "You do it on purpose. I know you do."

Laughing she fell back on his bed and rested there as he turned the shower on. She would have gone and retrieved the book she'd been reading but she was afraid she'd ruin it as dirty as she was. But she was content here, on the bed. His bed was warm and soft, and it smelled like he did. Shutting her eyes she relaxed and waited for him to finish, then they could go down to the ocean and watch the waves while people played music for them. She might even get him to dance with her if she went about it the right way, she did love to dance. It would be a nice night. All she had ever hoped for was a nice night. Looked like, occasionally, she got her wish.


	22. Defense: Month Eighteen

Disclaimer: Boomtown is not my property.

**22. Defense – Month Eighteen**

Well this interview was a total waste of time. Honestly, she knew going on it would be, when you had a drug dealer like this one he just wasn't going to be any use. The twenty something was stubborn, headstrong, and wanted to give it to the man. She suspected mommy issues at work. After talking to him for five minutes she knew he'd rather be thrown in prison than cut a deal by giving them anything, and she didn't much care. The man was pissing her off with his attitude. He could rot and she wouldn't give him a second thought, which she was sure he would have a hard time believing, after all he was a gift sent to Earth by God.

So she gave up on the whole thing. She had better things to do with her time than deal with a punk, which is what she told him. Getting up she had her notes under her arm and was opening the door when she was caught utterly off guard. She blamed her mind being on a different case and a feeling of safety in the department. This was her domain and she had gotten too comfortable here. She paid for that.

The perp she had been interviewing somehow got loose from his cuffs and grabbed her from behind. She let out a shout as he slammed her face first into the wall and then hurled her backward into the table. She hit her back hard and screamed again as she bounced off onto the floor. Before she could react, or even register that she was really pissed off by this turn of events, the door slammed open and McNorris was in the room before she came to a full stop on the ground.

David punched the man across the jaw so hard his jaw cracked as the attorney dislocated it. She was astounded by the force behind the single punch and wheezed; at the moment it was the most impressed sort of sound she could make. The younger man fell backward over the chair, taking it down with him as gravity took over. Her ears were ringing but she heard a thud as the man's head hit the cement wall. "Son of a bitch!" David snarled.

She was sure the only thing that saved the dealer's life in that instant was Fearless coming in after David. The detective grabbed him from behind and pulled him back as his arms locked under David's arms and curled up over his shoulders. "Whoa, McNorris!"

Ghost boy let out a wordless snarl of rage as she let out an involuntary whimper as she tried to get up. His eyes snapped to her and he wrenched himself away from Fearless and crouched down next to her. "Darcy? Are you all right?"

"Ouch." She managed.

"God damn it!" He snarled in rage as he helped her off the floor. She shook her head in an effort to clear it and he caught her face. He touched her forehead, where she'd impacted with the cement wall, and she flinched. "You need to stand up for me."

"Bossy." She muttered, thinking getting up was not the greatest idea. He hauled her up anyway.

He didn't smile at her as he held most of her weight as she got her feet under her. She staggered as he led her out of the room and David held her tightly. A few minutes later and he had her in her office, and then in her chair. He held her face and gazed at her injuries again. His jaw was tight and she could feel the rage coming out of him in waves. Leaning forward she escaped the cage of his fingers and set her head on his shoulder. "I'm dizzy."

He reached up and petted the back of her head. "We need to get you to a doctor. You might have a concussion."

"I shouldn't have turned around." She muttered.

"You had to turn around to leave." He was vibrating against her, his body coiled for another fight.

She sighed. "Am I bruised?"

"You will be soon." He replied.

"I just got un-bruised." She said unhappily. And it was true. Her skin had all healed from their adventure and she'd even gotten her cast off three days ago. She had been really happy with that even if her arm was now a different color than the rest of her skin from where the cast blocked the sun. She was still trying to work out how to only tan that portion of her body. She had yet to come up with a solution.

He sighed and pushed her upright, making sure she wasn't going to list over before he let her go. "Let me see your back." She flinched and he squeezed her arm. "I need to see how bad he hurt you. If I don't look someone else will."

"I don't think it's really that bad." But she complied anyway. With a sigh she leaned to the left and he lifted her shirt up. At least he didn't make any indication that he was repulsed by the scars as he studied the injury. He ran his fingers over the area and she shifted slightly.

"Sorry." He murmured as he followed the bruise. She could tell it wasn't that bad by the way it felt and by how far his fingers went. There was a knock on the door and it opened. Joel was in the doorway and McNorris lowered her shirt as if nothing were really the matter. The detective couldn't see the scars from where he was.

"Is she okay?"

"You mean other than getting attacked by a man that should have been cuffed? She'll live." He stood up and started to inspect her forehead. "At least I think so. She needs to see a doctor."

"I'm fine." She said. Her spunk was returning as the room stopped spinning. The jolt had only knocked her momentarily silly.

David frowned. "You've got a knot on your head."

"It's just a bump." She responded after feeling it. "I'll be fine in a few minutes." He pressed his lips together as Joel got closer. "Stop hovering! I've been injured before! I'm fine!"

"I don't believe you." David stated.

She let out an exasperated breath. "I'm not going to a doctor and I'm not going home. I'm sick of being injured. I refuse to be hurt again."

David rolled his eyes and stepped away from her as Joel raised an eyebrow. The detective questioned her. "You refuse?"

She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair stubbornly. "Yes, I'm not having it. I'm good."

"Call me when she passes out." David said to Joel as his phone went off. "I'll come take her to the ER once I get out of my meeting."

"I'm not going to the ER again!"

"Not much you can do to stop it once you loose consciousness." He retorted right before answering his phone and walking into the bullpen. She grumbled at him even as she pulled some files toward her.

Joel looked her over. "I know you like to drive him up a wall but if you're hurt-"

"Joel, honestly, it's only a bump. I'm fine."

"All right." He said slowly. "In that case I'll go to the hospital with the perp. I'll be sure he doesn't go anywhere but jail after he wakes up. Assault charges won't help his cause."

"You should have just let McNorris have him." She grumbled.

"And have him thrown in jail?"

"Fine, fair point." She made a shooing motion. "Go do your job. I'm fine." With a shake of his head Joel left her rifling through papers.

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McNorris found her twenty minutes after she got home. He walked into the living room where she was sitting on her couch peacefully flipping through channels. She finally found an old western movie and set the remote down as he approached her. "You drove home?" He asked sharply.

"Well I certainly didn't fly here." She was wishing something else were on TV. Maybe she should invest in more than a basic cable package. It might be worth the extra money.

McNorris rubbed her temples. "Darcy, I'm going to have to kill you to save you from yourself."

"What are you talking about?" She asked calmly as she glanced about for her television guide. Perhaps it knew something she was unaware of.

"You can't drive with head trauma!" He snapped.

She let out an exasperated sigh. She had taken the time to inspect the injury herself. It really wasn't that bad. "David, it's a bump. All it is, is a bump. Tomorrow it won't even exist. I do not have head trauma. Stop overdramatizing." He sat down next to her and pushed her hair back so he could see it again. She allowed it although she rolled her eyes. He inspected the area critically for nearly two full minutes before letting her hair fall back in place. "Satisfied, Dr. McNorris?"

"Not even remotely. I would feel better if I'd gotten more than one hit in."

"One more hit and you would have killed him."

"I know." He growled.

She patted his leg at his pronouncement. He was really worked up about her getting hurt. She found his protectiveness reassuring. It wasn't often that she had felt very protected. "That's both attractive and disturbing all at the same time."

"He could have killed you." She could hear the rage in his voice.

"You kicked his ass for me. That was very sweet." Turning her head she kissed his cheek chastely. "Thank you."

"That's all I get for saving your life? A kiss on the cheek?"

"And a thank you." She added.

There was a slight pause. "Much better."

She suppressed a laugh as she turned the TV off before twisting quickly and straddling his lap. His hands were holding her hips in an instant. He was usually the one that initiated anything other than a kiss and he was more than happy to have her reacting first. He was getting eager to have her close to him, and her denying to get undressed, seeing as they had now been out five times, was driving him crazy. At this point she was only holding out on him to drive him insane. She had decided about a week ago that they were most certainly going to end up naked together very soon, at the moment of her choosing. But until then there was no reason she couldn't have him foaming at the mouth for her, after all she had said 'at least six dates'. He knew that meant it could be longer. She admitted she could be very mean sometimes.

"Were you expecting more than my gratitude?" She asked teasingly.

His eyes hooded as he slid her closer to his chest. Her legs were forced farther apart as he molded them together. "Much more." He growled out.

She considered him for a moment before reaching up and loosening his tie. She supposed he did deserve something, and not just for today. McNorris was actually a pretty decent boyfriend. He was sweet, considerate, and took really good care of her even when she didn't ask. Those were all points in his favor as far as she was concerned. His protectiveness of her, when she so often felt insecure where safety was concerned, helped him out too even if she was more than capable of taking care of herself. He hummed in approval as she got it off and let it fall to the floor beside them. When she started to unbutton his vest his fingers curled around the bottom of her blouse. She smacked them away at once. "I thought I was very clear in telling you that none of my clothes were coming off until we went on six dates."

"We've been on six." He said even as she loosened the last button.

"David, spending the evening going over depositions is not a date."

He tried to convince her that it had been a date. "I bought you dinner and made you laugh."

Leaning in she kissed him. He returned it as his hands settled on her hips. She pulled away a second later. "Not a date."

"You could make an exception."

She started to unbutton his dress shirt. "David, do you want me to continue, or argue with me?"

He pushed forward and kissed her encouragingly. "Bargaining, Darcy, bargaining."

She nipped at his lower lip, forcing down a laugh. "Well if you quit trying to bargain I could focus on getting you off." His eyes dilated dramatically. "Your choice."

"I'm done." He stated before she could change her mind.

"That's pretty much what I figured." When she saw that he had another shirt on underneath his button up one, a white wife beater, she gave up on it and reached down between them. Pulling on the tongue of his belt had him getting hard at once and she sent him a smoky smile. Moving in she kissed him on the lips before working her way across his jaw. His hands went to her back and started running his hands along her spine over her shirt. Nibbling at his neck had him sighing in appreciation and she twisted her hands nimbly so she could get his pants open.

When she pulled his zipper down his eyes closed as his head tipped back so it was resting over the back of the couch. Her own lust, as well as a hefty amount of curiosity over how big he was, rose up as she snuck her hand into his boxers. He groaned as her fingers wrapped around him and she started to stroke him slowly. He was fully erect in seconds and she assessed him. McNorris certainly had nothing to be embarrassed about between his legs.

She teased him with her hand for several minutes as his hips shifted restlessly below her. Eventually he lost patience with her and opened his eyes. "Darcy." He growled in warning and she sent him an innocent look as she ran her thumb over the tip of him. His hands tightened over her waist. "Stop being a tease."

"I'm not a tease." She replied even as her eyes twinkled with amusement. She was enjoying the sudden power she had over him. She had never imagined this man would be fully at her mercy, but here they were.

"Like hell you aren't." Grabbing the back of her head he pulled her to him and kissed her hard. When he pulled away and her eyes opened he growled at her as his eyes glittered. "Stop playing with me."

If she hadn't heard the strain in his voice she would have gotten up and walked away. As it was she could tell he was fighting tooth and nail for control. She squeezed him a little harder as she stroked him just to drive him crazy. He cursed under his breath and threw his head back over the couch. His fingers were flexing around her a little desperately and she took pity on him when it became clear he wasn't going to try to make her do anything.

Sliding off him she spread his legs and settled to her knees and got comfortable. His eyes snapped back open as she moved. Pulling him out she leaned down and kissed him as she looked up at him from under her lashes. One of his hands settled on the top of her head as he watched her intently. His eyes had turned electric blue and she found the flush that hit him almost adorable, almost, he was too turned on for it to be adorable. As she licked him slowly his fingers tangled in her hair and he urged her to do what he wanted her to do. He wasn't being demanding, only coaxing her in the direction he so wanted her to take.

Giving in, she rose up slightly and took him into her mouth. He groaned. "Oh yes, Darcy." His fingers flexed in her hair. Encouraged by the sound of her name falling from his lips that way she began to bob up and down, flicking her tongue as she went. It was a trick she learned when she and Jason had first started sleeping together. McNorris must have found it as satisfying as her late husband because he let out a strangled groan of appreciation.

Smiling slightly, she rose up and swirled her tongue around the tip of him. "Fuck!" She could tell he was physically restraining himself from shoving her head down. His entire body was starting to clench and, to her great surprise, he suddenly tried to yank her up. Ignoring him, because if she was going to do this she was going to do it right, she lowered her head and sucked. McNorris clenched all over and lost control with a cry. Her name tumbled from his lips right before salty warmth filled her mouth. Swallowing quickly she lifted her head to find him slumped backward with his eyes closed. He looked utterly relaxed even as his breathing came out in harsh pants.

Crawling back onto his lap she kissed his jaw and nuzzled at his warm skin. His hand came up lazily and wrapped around her. "Do you feel that was the proper amount of gratitude?"

He hummed in agreement, and without opening his eyes, he pulled her face to his and kissed her languidly. Pleased with herself, and her performance, she relaxed into him. David twisted slowly until he was laying with his back to the couch and had her laying over his chest. He stroked her back with gentle caresses and she nearly laughed at him. He was suddenly acting like a big teddy bear. "Been awhile, McNorris?"

"Longer than I'd care to think about." He changed the subject as his eyes opened lazily. "You're good at that."

She nipped at his shoulder. "I know."

He huffed out a laugh. "Modest too." She laughed into his skin and finished unbuttoning his shirt. "What are you doing?"

"Taking your clothes off. I thought that was fairly obvious."

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought no clothes were coming off for another two dates?"

"I said _my_ clothes weren't coming off. I said nothing about yours." She kissed his neck. "I want to see you without all the fancy suits."

"You've seen me after I was at the gym." He pointed out.

"In long sleeved shirts and hoodies."

His eyes finally opened. "You want to see my arms." It wasn't a question.

She shrugged. She did, and there was no point in pretending. Ghost boy wasn't one to shy away from admiration. He would let her undress him if she wanted. "Yes."

"Why?"

"We all have turn ons, McNorris. Mine is shoulders." She sat up and pushed opened his shirt. "Indulge me."

He complied, following her up into a sitting position. He shrugged out of his vest and shirt at the same time and she caught her first real good look at his arms. He laid back down, pulling her with him, and she took him in. "Like what you see?"

Amused that he cared she pressed her lips over one of his shoulders. "Very nice. Well worth all the boxing."

He chuckled and pulled her head up so he could kiss her. "I'm glad you approve."

"You should be. If I didn't you wouldn't get another blow job."

He laughed outright at that. "Vixen. Your name certainly suits you." He finally said. "You're going to kill me for sure."

"Worse ways to die and worse people to die with."

"How true." His hand began to snake toward her hips, and when she felt his fingers sliding under her waistband, she caught it. David was about to return the favor but she wasn't really up for that. "Not that I don't appreciate the thought, but I'm a little sore after being hurled about like a rag doll. Maybe another day."

He cursed softly and sat up. "You should have told me you were hurting."

She found herself back upright. She sulked, that had been cozy. "Not that bad. I was comfortable like that."

"I-"

She kissed him quickly. "I'll use my heating pad latter and I'll be good as new. Okay? I was happy where we were."

He sighed at her stubbornness even as he tickled her sides with his thumb. "I knew you were a cuddler." She pouted at him and he slid her off him and refastened his pants after tucking himself away. When he was done he caught her carefully and laid them back in the same position they'd been in before. When she was laying over his chest he ran his hand over her hair. "I'm not much for cuddling." He commented. "But I suppose I could make an exception for you."

"So good to me." She murmured sarcastically.

He patted her rear end affectionately; it did seem to be his favorite part of her anatomy. "I know I am. Even when you have head trauma."

"I do not have head trauma!" She stated firmly. He just laughed and pulled her in for another kiss.


	23. Ballistic: Month Eighteen

Disclaimer: Boomtown does not belong to me.

**23. Ballistic– Month Eighteen**

She rustled through papers at her dining room table. It was time to pay off her bills, the greatest day of the month, and she was slightly confused over a few of her statements. Not that she wanted to pay them, but some of them weren't matching up with her meticulously kept check book and corresponding receipts. For some reason several of her debts, including her car payment and health insurance, were completely paid off. She couldn't work it out, or why both companies had made mistakes in her favor on the same month, but she needed to check into it. If she didn't she was sure both places would realize their error at the same time and slam her with fees. She couldn't afford to pay several months off at the same time, so here she was calling the billing office at Ford.

Someone answered after a minute or so of hold music. "Hi. I'm calling about the balance on my account."

"Can I have your name and account number?" The woman on the line asked. Giving them to her she heard the woman on the other line typing away quickly and could only imagine her sitting in a cubicle somewhere as she accessed her information. "I have your information up. What seems to be the problem?"

She lifted the paper she had received in the mail; quadruple checking that there was an error before she made a fool of herself. "My statement said my balance has been paid off. The last time I sent in a check I still had about two thousand dollars I needed to take care of with you."

"That's not a very usual complaint."

She laughed. "I'm sure it's not, but I didn't want anyone to get into trouble over it."

"That's nice of you." There were a few more clicks. "Well, it looks like your husband sent in a check two weeks ago to cover the last of it. Did he forget to tell you?"

There was a brief moment where her mind scrambled to understand how Jason had made a car payment when he was dead, and had been for nearly two years now. She was so thrown she repeated the statement back. "My husband?"

There was more clicking before the woman answered. "Yes, Mrs. McNorris."

There was no way in hell she heard that correctly. "I'm sorry, I missed that last part."

"I said your husband did send in a check, Mrs. McNorris." The woman laughed lightly. "Did you need to change your name while I have you on the phone? I still have your last name listed as Fox. Congratulations."

She gripped the phone so hard her knuckles turned white. Curbing her confused rage she took a calming breath. There was no need to ruin this woman's day as well. "He must have forgotten to tell me something." Or more than one thing. "I'll have to call back about that later. I'm in a bit of a hurry. Thank you for speaking with me, you've been extremely helpful."

"You're welcome. Have a nice day."

"You too." Hanging up, she slammed the phone down on the table. What? _What?_ There was no way in hell she had married McNorris. She would definitely remember something like… Son of a bitch. Vegas. They had been drugged out of their minds and that stupid song was stuck in her head for days… Shit. She thought about the badness of this situation for a moment before her mind noted, once again, that her bills had been paid off.

She glanced down at them in their neat little piles on the table. McNorris had paid them, which meant he had access to her credit information and bank account. Which, in turn, meant he knew they were married. Picking up the paperwork she put it carefully back in the expanding file folder she kept everything in with perfunctory snaps of her wrists. Well, that was it. She was going to kill him. She may have threatened him in the past, now she was really going to do it. All she needed to do was get him in a confined space where no one would hear him scream. Standing up she grabbed her bag and keys. Coming up with a convenient excuse she got in her car and drove to his house.

Taking several calming breaths she got out and told herself to relax. There was no need to tip him off before she could corner him. Knocking on his front door she spun the key ring around her finger. She couldn't recall a time she had been this angry with him before. She was going to rip out his soul and stomp on it while she giggled. Leaning casually on the doorframe she waited for him to answer. Less than a minute later he greeted her with a small smile, obviously pleased that she was here. "Darcy."

"Hey, my car is making a weird noise. Could you look at it?"

He nodded. "Go ahead and pull it into the garage."

"Okay." Pushing herself upright she headed to the car as he vanished to open the garage. When the doors opened she slid her small Fiesta in and turned the engine off before she decided to run him over. She would hate to dent her car, especially now that it was all paid off. Popping the hood she got out and set the keys on the roof of the vehicle.

"What's it doing?" He asked as he lifted the hood all the way up.

"Clunking." She lied.

He looked to her for further information but she shrugged. She didn't know enough about cars to make anything else up. With a shake of his head he looked the engine over critically without touching anything. "I don't see anything wrong, but it might be something farther inside. If it's clunking it might be the engine mount or the u-joint." She had no idea what that meant, but sure, let's say it was the u-joint. "Do you want to come in and have something to drink while it cools down? I'll be able to check it better in about an hour."

"Sounds good." He was going to let her get him in a confined space? Perfect. It was nice that after a few dates she lulled him into a false sense of security. He led her to his kitchen and opened the fridge. "Tea, coke, or water?"

"Coke."

He handed her a can and pulled out a bottle of water for himself. "I don't know why I ask. How much caffeine do you drink in a day?"

"Enough."

His lip twitched. "Is that one gallon or two?"

"Depends on the day."

He smiled. "Today?"

"More than usual." She popped the top on the can and took a sip as it fizzed.

"Why?"

She waited until he was swallowing in the hopes that he would choke to death. "I found out I was married." He gurgled, nearly dropping the bottle. She watched him trying to breathe without much sympathy as she set the pop down on the counter. If he died this way she couldn't be held responsible. All the better. When he finally caught his breath he looked over at her apprehensively. She got straight to the point. "I'm going to kill you." Her voice was steely, and more than a little off putting.

He set the bottle down behind him. "Now, let's talk about this."

"You want to talk about this?" She stalked toward him and he straightened his spine. "I found out from my car dealership!"

"What?"

"For some reason my credit dept suddenly, poof, disappeared! When I asked about it I was told my _husband_ had paid everything off last month!" She had puffed up like an angry cat. "_What the hell, McNorris?_"

"I really think you should call me David considering we're married."

"You are literally seconds away from death and you're going to get smart with me?" She screeched.

"Baby doll, I think you're overreacting."

That was it. Her temper hit its boiling point and she lunged at him. He was waiting for it and caught her wrists as she surged forward. Spinning them quickly he pinned her against the fridge. Snarling at him, she thrashed, but he held her firmly against the cool metal. "Let go of me!"

"That wouldn't be very conducive to my health." Pulling her wrists up he stretched her out, making it harder to get leverage. "You just threatened to kill me."

Breathing heavily she glared at him as fear started to hit her, warring for dominance over her rage. This was not the best position she could have been put in. "It wasn't a threat!"

"You'd go to jail." He said.

"We both know they'd have to find your body before that happened!"

He chuckled, as if this were in any way funny, and she whipped her head forward. He jerked away just in time to avoid her clamping down on his neck with her teeth. "Easy!"

"Easy?" She jerked again and his grip tightened. "You didn't tell me we were married and you want me to be easy? I want an annulment! _Now!_"

"That hurts my feelings."

"Your feelings aren't the only things that are going to be hurting!" She promised with absolute sincerity.

He seemed to realize she wasn't all that relaxed or happy at the moment. He went from teasing to trying to mollify her. "I realize this isn't the most ideal situation-"

"_Ideal?_ We got married after mobsters in Vegas drugged us! I don't even remember what happened!"

"I don't either."

She could actually believe that but that didn't explain something. "Really? How did you find out?"

"The marriage certificate was in my briefcase when we got home."

"That was two months ago!" She was yelling, loudly. Her voice was bouncing around the kitchen unpleasantly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I could never find the right time."

"The _right_ time?" She struggled harder. "How about when you found it? Or one of the five dozen times we went to get food? Or when we started going out?" Her voice rose to another octave. "Or before I gave you a blow job?" That memory actually had her seeing red. She tried to kick him and he twisted quickly before shoving his own leg between hers and leaning his weight forward to stop her from moving. "I knew you were a sneaky bastard, but this is mind-boggling! I can't believe you did this to me!"

He was clearly bracing himself for the fallout and began to retreat. "I'm sorry, Darcy. I thought you might loose your temper."

"Like right now?"

"Yes."

"God damn it, McNorris!" She didn't even know what else to say. She was beyond reasonable thinking. "You're a son of a bitch!"

"Would you mind leaving my mother out of this?"

"Go to hell!" She snarled.

"Are you done yelling now?"

"No, I'm not fucking done-" Darting in he pressed his lips against hers, cutting her off mid tirade. She went stiff all over and turned her head away, breaking the kiss. There was no way he was going to make this better with a kiss, and certainly not when he had her pinned. Breathing heavily she tried to press farther away even though she had nowhere to go. He may have had her under him before but he hadn't had her pinned to anything. They had been playing, or he had been upset, and she could get away if she wanted. He wasn't playing now and she couldn't move. "What are you doing?"

"Kissing you."

"Don't!" She snapped.

He tilted his head as he watched her. "Why not?"

She watched him warily, thinking her rage would be enough of a reason. "Let me go." She demanded.

He sighed and all humor left him. "I want to talk about this."

"I don't care what you want!" She squirmed. "Let me go!"

The attorney must have sensed her shift from anger to fear. "What's going on?"

"I don't like to be held down!"

"Why?"

"I just don't!" She had no intention of sharing that with him.

"I've held you before and you never seemed to mind." Leaning in slowly he kissed her neck gently. She tightened up further and he breathed out softly. "Relax, baby doll."

Closing her eyes she clenched her hands. Her rage had vanished completely now. The only emotions she could process were fear and revulsion. "David, stop."

He trailed feather light kisses down to the collar of her shirt. She trembled from the sensations. She was starting to panic. He felt it and raised his head. "What's the matter?"

"Get off me!" She was all out shaking now. He was holding her down and touching her at the same time. It was the worst combination of things possible for him to do. "It hurts! Let go!"

His eyes flashed in shock. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Let go!" Stepping away, his hands fell to his sides. Pushing past him she headed to the garage without looking at him. "Just get the annulment papers."

Walking out, she slammed her hood shut, snatched her keys up, and got in her car. McNorris was in the doorway when she pulled out of the garage. She drove home with the radio blasting in an attempt to get her mind out of the past. It didn't work. When she got home she stripped down and turned her shower on as hot as it would get. Stepping under the spray she turned her back to it and let it hit her shoulders as she leaned into the wall. Pressing her face into her hands she tried to stop herself from crying, but it didn't help. Within seconds she was sobbing into the tile.

Sinking to the floor she curled up into a ball and let her emotions take over. Covering her head she rocked under the spray of water. It was the first time she'd cried since she moved here and once it started she couldn't stop. Eventually, the water started to cool and her hitching sobs eased off. By the time her breathing returned to normal the water was icy, and she was convinced the cold was what finally had her quieting. The cold always seeped in and numbed her when she let it. Standing up shakily she turned off the water and got out. Drying herself off she scrubbed at her face before wrapping a robe around herself. She felt hung over after that. It was too much at once.

When she walked into her bedroom to change she found McNorris standing by her window. When he saw her he let the curtains swing closed and she jumped in surprise at his appearance. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk."

"About what? You breaking in, or you lying to me?"

"About your sudden flight."

"I don't think so. Get out of my house. I don't want you here again." She waved toward the door.

He didn't budge. "I'm not leaving until we talk."

"I have nothing to say to you." And really, she didn't. She'd yelled and now it was over. The only thing she was thankful for was that she hadn't slept with him. "We're done."

His jaw clenched. "That's it? One fight and we're through?"

"Looks that way."

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

"I really can. I'll have someone draw up divorce papers and be done with you by next week." Then she could move again. Maybe the second time would work out better.

"And you think we'll never run into each other again?" He asked sarcastically.

"Yes, that's exactly what I think."

That statement made him nervous, she saw it in him. "You have every right to be mad but do you really think cutting and running is going to solve anything?"

"I don't know, did you really think you could be in a relationship without sabotaging it?" He clenched his jaw and she began to dig at him because she was angry and she wanted to make him hurt as much as she did right now, wanted him to feel betrayed. "Did you think you'd finally get to be happy, McNorris? That someone as screwed up as you would get to have that?" His face went blank at that and she continued to push, knowing how cruel this was, and for once not caring. She had to get rid of him. He had her cornered, trapped by her own emotions, and the only way for her to escape was for him to leave her. "You fuck everything up. I'm just another failure in a long line of failures. One more person you couldn't make love you."

He sucked air through his nose and she knew she had him angry now. His face was flushed and his jaw was set, all the signs that he was royally pissed off. It made her relax, knowing he was about to go. Suddenly, his eyes flashed and she realized he had picked up on the minute changes in her posture. "That was very clever, Darcy." His anger faded away. "You're not getting me to walk out on you."

She nearly screamed as he caught her playing him, frustrated beyond reason. Keeping her emotions in check she tried to bluff her way out of it. "It would be the first time you ever walked out first wouldn't it?" She said meanly.

She knew he didn't like that, but his anger didn't rise up again. "I know I scared you." He inched toward her. "I didn't know being held down would make you react that way, but I suppose I should have been able to work that out on my own." She leaned away as he got closer. "Are you still afraid? Is that why you're being nasty?"

She felt cornered all over again with that observation. "I hadn't realized honesty was so hard for you to handle."

"I'll take that as a yes." He stopped when he was a few feet from her. "I would never hurt you, Darcy."

"But lying is a totally separate category for you? In your mind that doesn't cause pain?"

He sighed and she saw he was getting as emotionally worn down as she was. "I can only say I'm sorry so many times. I didn't want you angry about being married."

"I'm angry you didn't tell me!"

"But not that we're married?" He asked.

She narrowed her eyes as he tried to get her to answer the way he wanted her to. "I'm not angry that we did something insane while we were drugged into oblivion. You should have told me as soon as you found out."

"I should have." He agreed. He was silent for a moment as he struggled with himself. "I didn't want you to leave me before we even got a chance to start something. I wanted a chance with you." He got a few inches closer. "Haven't you been happy with me? I've been happy with you, happier than I've ever been before. Don't leave because of this."

Well if he wanted to keep that, and her, not that she was forgiving him for this, she was setting some ground rules. "If you _ever_ lie to me again I swear you'll never see me again. I'm not a pawn you get to move around your board at your leisure. I'm a person and I have feelings. Don't for one second think that I can't take care of myself or move on without looking back. I've done it before. The prospect of doing it again is less than daunting. I will _not_ be fucked around with."

"I know you're a person." He said seriously. "I have no intention of making you unhappy."

She watched him, seeing a flaw in that logic. "Making me happy and not telling me things are different." She got close enough to jab him in the chest. "No secrets. I mean it."

"Okay." He agreed. "No secrets."

"Good, now get out of my house."

"What?"

"You heard me." She turned toward her dresser, putting her back to him. "I'm dangerously close to hating you right now. Go away."

"You're kicking me out?"

"I knew you were smart." She said sarcastically. She pulled out some clothes and tossed them on top the piece of furniture.

She heard a small creak and turned around. David had sat himself down on the end of her bed, making no move to leave. She was less than amused, she hadn't been unclear in her demands for him to leave. He crooked his finger, beckoning her to him. She didn't move. "Come here."

"No."

"Come here." He repeated more firmly. "Don't you trust me?"

Because he'd given her such reason to trust him? "You? Not even a little." She eyed him. "You're a snake in the grass."

He pouted. "Is that any way to talk to your husband?"

Her voice was sharp as a knife. "You aren't my husband!" She had buried her husband.

"According to the rest of the world I am." He motioned for her. "Just come here." Stubbornly, she stood where she was as her jaw set. Loosing patience he leaned forward quickly and caught her around the waist. She tried to dig her heels into the carpet, but it provided no friction and he slid her onto his lap. "I'm sorry I scared you. I would never hurt you, baby doll."

"How reassuring." She snipped sarcastically as she pushed at his hold. "You're so good at keeping your word."

"I've never broken a promise I've made to you." He looked into her eyes and she saw hurt there before he covered it up and touched her cheek. He finally noticed her red-rimmed eyes and pale face. "Were you crying?"

"No." She started to twist up and he held her down.

"Would you please be still?"

"Why? What are you going to do?"

"Make you feel good." His hand moved to her thigh and squeezed it firmly. "All you have to do is let me."

"I don't want-"

"We both want this." His hand slid under her robe and she went rigid. "Relax and let me make you feel good."

She squirmed, torn between anger and lust. "You aren't making me feel particularly relaxed."

His fingertips brushed her clit and she hissed at a jolt of pleasure tore up her back. "How about now?"

"Not really." She started to squirm as he pressed down harder. Spinning her so her back was against his chest he continued to tease her, keeping one of his large hands pressed against her stomach to hold her in place against him. Seconds later and she let out a muffled cry as he caused a shock of pleasure roll over her entire body.

He twisted his head and kissed her neck as he drove her up. "Spread your legs."

Biting her lip, she complied as need overtook her fear and anger. When her legs fell to either side of his he let his knees fall apart to spread her open. Letting out a small cry she threw her arms back to clutch at his sides to keep herself from falling forward. His arm tightened around her, keeping her secure, as he dipped one of his fingers inside her. Letting out a ragged breath she snapped her eyes shut. She wasn't going to make it long at this rate. It had been too long since she'd done this and he knew what he was doing.

Breath hitching, she ground her hips into his hand and he plunged a second finger inside of her. Letting out a low wail she pressed into him and shook as an orgasm rolled over her. Gasping, she felt his arm tighten further to hold her up as he continued to pump her. Losing track of time she ended up with her head leaning back on his shoulder as she panted. McNorris kissed her forehead and wiped his hand on the edge of her robe before twisting and laying her on the bed.

Settling down next to her he turned her head and kissed her gently. When he pulled away she watched him warily and he curved his arm around her and tucked her under him. Stroking her face she hesitantly allowed him to deepen his kisses. Encouraged, he started running his hands over her robe. Slowly, her hands went up to his chest and he hummed in approval. When his hand found the knot on her robe she went stiff. With him all over her again her mind skipped back to the fridge incident. Her breathing went irregular and she tried to scoot away from him. He let go of the robe at once and looped his arm over her back, drawing her to him again. "It's okay."

Holding her in a loose grip he kissed her forehead tenderly. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Going to sleep."

"Sleep?" He hummed in agreement and tugged at the edge of her blanket. Pulling it over them he kicked off his shoes and kissed her temple. Flipping her, he spooned up around her in a now familiar manner and held her close. What was this? She had never imagined the DDA giving anything, including sexual favors, and not expecting something back. "McNorris?"

"It's David." He stroked her knuckles. "I don't want to scare you."

"You always try to scare me." Or at the very least intimidate her into compliance. Not that it ever got him anywhere.

"You're my wife. I'm supposed to keep you safe, not scare you. It won't happen again."

She thought she might cry again. "You don't want me to be your wife." She tried to slide out from under his arm but he pulled her back to him. "I'm messed up."

"We're both messed up." He kissed the back of her head. "I don't care."

"You don't even know what's wrong with me." She started to squirm and he held her down stubbornly. "You don't know _me_. Why in the world would you want to be married?"

"Because I love you." She froze and he continued. "Because I do know you. Because you're my friend and I've never really had one before. Because you don't let me get away with anything. Because you know me and you keep coming back anyway. Because you make sure I'm healthy and happy. Because you're you and I'm me. There are other reasons but those are the big ones."

She turned her head into the mattress. That was sweet and she was sure he meant that. "Don't do this, McNorris. I'm pissed with you right now."

"That's better than homicidal. We're heading in the right direction."

"Do you even know what direction we're heading right now?" Because she was fairly sure they were careening toward a metaphorical cliff.

"No, but we're going there together." God damn it. He was good at talking her out of being angry. "And when you're ready to tell me why you're messed up I'll listen. Until then I'd like to make a request."

She sighed. Only he would be brave enough, or crazy enough, to make a request right at this moment. "What is it?"

"I'll get the annulment papers and sign them, no questions asked, if you try this with me for a few months."

"A few?" She couldn't believe she was even considering this.

"Ten."

No way. "One."

"Eight."

"Three."

"Six."

"And you'll sign the papers if I want to leave?"

"Yes."

"Do you promise?"

He didn't even snark at her about getting his word. "I promise. I'll bring them over tomorrow signed and certified. You can do what you want with them."

"Fine." He relaxed all over. His thumb started running over her knuckles again. She was confused over how she felt about this, but by offering to give signed annulment papers he was giving her total control of the situation. That was nearly impossible for her to comprehend when it came to the DDA. He was a control freak. If he was trying to pull something else she wasn't understanding what it was. Then again, she was exhausted and suffering from the throes of her emotions. She would be able to think about this better in the morning.

Stretching out along him so she was more comfortable she reached out and turned out the lamp he had turned on when he had come in. She felt his eyes on her as she settled back down. "You're not kicking me out anymore?"

"Not unless you decide to keep talking."

He went quiet and her eyes closed as the sound of his heartbeat lulled her toward sleep. The last hour or so had worn her all the way out. Maybe sleeping wouldn't be the worst thing ever. Behind her David was quiet, but his fingers were brushing over her knuckles, calming her. Slowly, her body went slack and David relaxed against her, he had been holding himself stiff for some time, waiting for her to explode again. She felt him kiss her hair, gently, before she fell asleep, giving in to letting her mind have a break.


	24. Settle: Month Eighteen

Disclaimer: Boomtown- not mine.

**24. Settle –Month Eighteen**

"Darcy?" She looked up from her monitor to find the DDA lounging in her office doorway. "It's past nine." Frowning, she looked out her window and noticed the sun had nearly set, it wasn't even visible past the buildings, only the last rays cast a glow on the city. It was well past the time she was usually in her office, although she'd been here later than this before. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes." She hadn't eaten since yesterday, hadn't had the time.

"If you come over I'll make you dinner." He offered.

She shifted in her seat as she tried to decide if that was what she wanted to do. She was awfully tired but she didn't really want to spend what evening she had left alone with her own thoughts, even if that was what she should probably be doing. McNorris waited patiently for her to make up her mind. "Okay. I need to finish this first though. It shouldn't take me very long."

His lip curled up at the corner, satisfied with her choice. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

She nodded and started finishing up what she was doing. Ten minutes later and she picked up her purse and locked her door. A few of the cops waved tiredly to her as she passed and she smiled wanly in return. Getting in her car she drove to the DDA's house more slowly than she normally would. She needed a little bit of time to decompress before leaping into anything else emotional. At this point anything involving ghost boy was bound to be just that. She hadn't had time to untangle what she was feeling about that situation today. This morning had been…eventful. Her alarm had gone off at six thirty like it always did, and she had come awake from a jolt of adrenaline that hit her when she realized someone was holding her. She supposed that the rollercoaster he'd sent her on the day before had her more revved up than she normally was.

McNorris had grumbled something groggily, and she had done her level best to relax as she reached out to turn off the alarm. He still picked up on her anxiety, even half asleep. When she sat up he reached out and rubbed her back briefly. When she turned around to look at him, trying to figure out what to say or if she should simply kick him out, he pushed himself up and kissed her cheek. "I have to go home and change."

"Okay."

"I'll see you later today."

She wasn't sure she wanted that but she nodded anyway. She was as skittish this morning as she had been last night. She wasn't even sure she could blame it entirely on the memories. She simply didn't see him dealing with her anxiety for any real length of time, and that had her more unsettled over everything, putting her in a horrible cycle of nervousness, insecurity, confusion, and more than a small dash of anger. She was frustrated he had put her in this position. His eyes flickered as he watched her and the next thing she knew she was sitting in his lap.

Grabbing at his shoulders to keep herself balanced she barely got her bearings when his lips pressed over hers gently. Surprised, she didn't fight him as his hand cupped the back of her neck and held her still as he slowly deepened the kiss. It only took her a moment to respond to him and he tightened his hold on her when he was sure she wasn't going to bolt on him. As she whimpered he lowered her to the blankets and slipped his hand between her legs as they kissed. Crying into his mouth as heat coiled in her belly, her legs spread to make it easier for him to stroke her.

Breaking away he started trailing his lips down her neck as he pressed his fingers inside of her. Moaning and clutching at his shoulders, she tilted her hips up and he growled into her neck. "That's right, baby doll. Come for me."

With a low keen she writhed under him and he slammed his lips over hers and swallowed the sound. Going limp as her head spun in a satisfied haze he nuzzled his way along her jaw and up to the soft spot under her ear. His hand ran along the inside of her leg, squeezing her thigh possessively, as he murmured into her skin. "You are a sexy little thing."

She was glad he thought so. Then she mentally slapped herself for thinking that. She couldn't believe she had agreed to be married, to _McNorris_, for six months. She was insane. She blamed her past experiences on being unhinged. But there was nothing to do about that now; she should have taken Michael's offer to be counseled. Then again, maybe it would be all right to loose her mind for a little while. She had been wearing herself down to stay sane. It was too much work; she was tired of working all the time. Making up her mind she raised her arms and she ran her hands up his arms and over his shoulders, pulling him down over her. Pleased with her response to him, he flattened his body over hers and tangled his big hand in her short hair, pulling her face up to his.

Grinding his hips against hers, she felt him getting hard between her legs and shakily wondered if she was ready for this now that it was actually happening. If she wasn't she should probably tell him now. She was trying to decide, and he was making it hard to think, when his phone went off. When she loosened her arms he caught her face and looked her dead in the eye. "Ignore it." Then he was kissing her again. The sound died away for a total of two seconds when her phone started ringing.

McNorris cursed as she sighed. Rolling over she ended up on top of him as she reached for her PDA sitting on the small table beside her bed. The man seemed pleased with where she had put him and ran his hands over her silky blue robe as she answered. "Hello?"

"Darcy?"

"Yeah, Joel." The DDA found her ribs and brushed them on his way north as he explored her and she jerked. Glaring down at him she squirmed and he grinned triumphantly at his discovery. She didn't know why he was so pleased, she'd told him she was ticklish. "We need you to come in."

"I'll be there in an hour." She said distractedly as she tried not to laugh. David was tickling her doing that.

"No, we need you now." She bit her lip to stop herself from giggling as McNorris teased her skin. Jabbing him in the side he grunted quietly as she tried to figure out what was going on.

"Why?" Catching her free hand David tugged her down and started sucking on her neck. She shivered in pleasure.

"There's been a bombing."

"What?" Her voice was sharp and the DDA stopped his teasing and moved his head around so he could hear. "Where?"

"One of the hospitals."

"Someone bombed a hospital?" McNorris was already reaching for his phone as she scrambled off of him and toward her closet. The DDA was listening to his voicemail as Joel finished his hurried explanation. "We need you on the scene to see if you can figure out who did this. Head to the front of the building. Everyone knows you're coming."

He gave her the address and she rushed through a goodbye before tossing the phone on her rumpled blankets. Ripping out her black suit and a gray blouse she tossed them after the phone and started digging for underwear. "Darcy."

"Yeah?" She looked up from her dresser distractedly.

"I have to go."

"Me too."

He caught her in a swift kiss. "Be careful."

She blinked in surprise but he was already leaving. A second later and she heard the front door shut. Shaking herself out of her daze she dressed quickly and dug her boots out of the bottom of her shoe bin that sat in a corner of her closet. She hadn't worn these since she was living in Wisconsin. She figured she would need a sturdy shoe where she was going. Pulling them on she skipped makeup entirely and brushed her hair as she rushed out the door. What followed was a fourteen-hour nightmare of blood, ruble, and work. Needless to say it had been a long day. She didn't want to think about it anymore tonight. Stepping out of her car she walked up the stairs to David's porch and knocked on the door. She heard him call to her to come in. "It's open."

Stepping inside, she shut and locked the door behind her. Walking toward the noises she heard she found him stirring something over the stove with his sleeves rolled up above his elbows. He looked cute cooking in his vest and tie. She should get him an apron for his next birthday. "You know, it's not real safe to leave the door unlocked with all the people you put in jail and are now on parole."

"I wouldn't have left it open if I hadn't known you were coming." He replied without worry.

She nodded and set her purse on one of the dinning room chairs. "Do you need help?"

"No, it's almost done." He glanced over at her. "Did you get a break today?"

That was a silly question, but she supposed he was as tired as she was so she wouldn't be judgmental. "No. Did you?"

"Long enough to get some coffee and a bagel around eleven."

"That's good." She wished she had been that lucky. She collapsed in front of one of the place settings he had put down. "Thank you for making me dinner." She said with real sincerity.

"You're welcome." She heard him clattering around as she did her best to keep her head from falling to the table in front of her. A few minutes later and a bowl of stew was in front of her.

"It smells good."

"You can eat it too." He said as he moved about.

She smiled slightly and picked up a spoon as a plate of cut bread and a bowl of fruit salad were put in the middle of the table. She was impressed with the simple meal. Visually it was very appealing and she saw blueberries and strawberries mixed in the fruit. Those were her favorite. The DDA sat down on her left and picked up a piece of bread as he slumped into his chair. She'd rarely seen him look so tired. "Are you okay, David?"

He nodded. "I don't particularly like working with the FBI."

She could sympathize with that. A team of them had shown up at about one that afternoon and started taking over. It was frustrating to say the least when Hicks had been doing so well getting things under control. The captain had pretty much everyone in line, and the chaos as close to organized as it was possible to get, when they came in and started making trouble. She wasn't very happy but she had kept her mouth shut. She hadn't made the best impression the last time they'd showed up and wanted to keep under the radar this time. It would be better for everyone if they could take care of this issue and get the suits out of L.A. as soon as possible. "Me neither." She scooped some of the fruit onto her plate and speared a strawberry. "But we have a good profile."

"You mean you do." McNorris wasn't about to let the FBI take credit for what she was doing when he knew very well that they had no input at all.

She shrugged. "Same difference at this point. As long as they find him it doesn't matter. I just want them gone. They set my teeth on edge." Unbuttoning her jacket to get more comfortable, she reached out for bread and he caught her wrist. She jumped at the sudden capture and glanced up at him. His eyes had zeroed in on her shirt.

"Are you hurt?" His voice was sharp.

She looked down and saw the dried blood splattered all over her shirt. She had forgotten all about that. "No, I was helping the paramedics and nurses this morning. There were too many people hurt for them to handle and I couldn't do anything for a while. I forgot I stained my shirt."

"How many people were hurt?" She wondered why he hadn't gotten that information.

"Quite a few." He let her go and she started eating again. "Did the feds try to sideline you?"

He pressed his lips together unhappily. "Yes, and it wasn't even subtle. Apparently they still have some doubts about my innocence when it comes to by dealings at work. Not that they can prove anything."

She ate some fruit salad. "I don't know what to say about that."

"There's nothing to say." He shrugged. "They can't keep me out of this and they know it. I'm better at my job than Greg and he's already pissing them off."

"How is he doing that?" She started eating in earnest as he asked. She hadn't realized how hungry she was after all the blood and gore, but she had worked off a lot of calories over the course of the day. Her body was practically singing at the spread in front of her.

"He keeps running his mouth about things he doesn't have the first clue about. The FBI would rather work with me even if they do think I'm dirty at this point. At least I can do my job. Tomorrow I won't have such a hard time with them. Who thought Greg was good enough to break them for me?"

Reaching the bottom of her bowl of stew she pushed it away and focused on the fruit as her lip twitched. "Apparently everybody has a purpose in life."

"As long as it's beneficial I suppose I can deal with him for a little while longer."

"That's very big of you." She teased gently as she polished off the last of the food in front of her in record time.

David smiled slightly as he started picking rather listlessly at the last of the fruit on his own plate. "I thought so. Do you think you could help me plot his demise?"

"Not until this is over, and I have to say, two on one is rather unfair." Finished, she gathered up the dishes and set them in the sink. "Tell you what. If you want to get rid of him that badly come up with a preliminary plot and I'll tell you if it's good or not."

He shook his head in amusement as she took her dishes to the sink and started to rinse them off. "If you're going to make me lay the ground work I might as well do the whole thing myself."

She lost her grip on the plate and it clattered to the bottom of the sink. Frowning at her own clumsiness she picked it back up and tried again, at least the dish hadn't broken from the impact. "If that's what you want to do. Just don't break any laws while you try to destroy him. Someone is bound to get suspicious about that considering what you'll get if you win." She changed the subject as she finished her preliminary rinse. "Where's your dish soap?" She figured the least she could do was clean since he was the one that cooked for her.

"Leave the dishes."

She could do that without a problem. "All right." Picking up a nearby towel she dried her hands. "Thanks again for dinner. It was really good. I'm going to go."

"Go?"

She was sure she was less than pristine right now. She could actually smell sweat and blood on her and it was really grossing her out now that she noticed it. "McNorris, I'm disgusting. I need a shower and then I need to sleep. I have to be back at the department in less than eight hours."

"I have a shower here."

"I figured." He stood up and grabbed his own dishes. Setting them on the counter he took her hand and started pulling her farther into his house. "But-"

"You don't have to fight me on everything."

"Yes, I do. You won't behave unless we fight."

He huffed out a laugh. "I'll behave myself until you're clean and rested."

"Are you even capable of doing that?" She asked sarcastically.

"I think so." He tugged her into his room and she looked around blearily. The sight and smells of the familiar room had her relaxing a little. He'd changed his bedding since the last time she was here. Not that he'd had a big choice after getting them dirty beyond repair. Now the sheets were a silvery gray and there was a navy comforter over the bed. She liked the color choice David had made. It looked nice with his dark stained furniture and pale walls. She liked that there wasn't so much as a sock out of place either. She was fairly impressed with anyone that was neater than she was and the attorney was that. Unaware of her thoughts he continued to lead her into the bathroom. Stopping just inside he propelled her forward and into the room. "I'll find you something clean to sleep in."

She sighed, knowing she didn't have the energy to talk her way out of this situation. She wasn't even sure she wanted to. Taking off her jacket she heard the DDA rummaging around in his drawers. She hung her jacket on an open towel rack before continuing to undress, it might be dirty but she didn't want it wrinkled on top of that, which she realized was silly when she was going to have to send it to the dry cleaners anyway. Sitting on the toilet she unzipped her boots and tugged them off with a groan. Her feet were throbbing, but she was grateful she'd had these on all day. She had no doubt the boots had saved her from spraining her ankles more than once as she sifted through ruble looking for people. Letting them fall to the floor she peeled off her socks. Balling them up she tossed them in David's hamper as he stepped in and set a pile of cotton on the edge of the sink. "If you need anything else let me know."

"Thanks, ghost boy."

He shut the door as he left and she finished stripping down. Turning on the water she showered quickly. She may want to stay under the spray for the next hour but she was too tired to stay up that long and she knew David would want hot water too. Using his shampoo she washed the smell of soot, sweat, and blood out of her hair. Once she had rinsed off she turned off the spray and grabbed the clean towel he had set on top the pile. Drying off quickly she wrapped the towel around her hair and pulled on the t-shirt and boxers he had given her.

Dressed, she hung up the towel after patting as much water as she could out of her hair and stepped out. McNorris was nowhere in sight and she walked toward the hall and ran smack into him as she turned the corner. Staggering back, he caught her before she could topple toward the ground. "Where were you going?"

"To find you."

His lip twitched up and he backed her toward the bed. "I think that's about the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." She rolled her eyes. "Get in bed. I need to clean up too."

"Why can't I stay in the spare bedroom?" She didn't know what made her say that. Maybe it was just that she was tired and hadn't had a chance to think about them being married. She needed to know how she felt about that, and soon.

He tilted his head. "You didn't seem to have a problem sharing a bed with me last night." His arm wrapped around her waist as the back of her legs hit the mattress. "Or this morning."

"That was this morning."

He hummed and lowered his head. "And what happened since then?" His lips brushed over her forehead.

Nothing had happened, that was the problem. She needed to put some space between them while she worked this all out. "I'm tired."

"Then go to sleep."

"Here?"

"Yes, here." He found her lips and kissed her once. "I want to curl up in bed with my wife."

"With me or in me?" She snipped.

He laughed softly at her annoyance as he kissed her again. "Both, but I can wait for the second one." His hands ran over her sides. "I'm sure you'll make it worth my while."

"And then what?"

"Then I'll flip you over and do it again."

"Pig."

"Sticks and stones." He hugged her flush against him. "You weren't complaining earlier." His hands started to lift the shirt and she began to pull away. He let his hands run to her hips instead as he murmured into her ear. "Eventually you're going to let me take you." He stroked his fingertips along her spine. "We were close this morning and you gave me six months. You'll get used to me holding you soon." She lost eye contact completely at the reminder and he stroked his hand over her wet hair. His lips touched her forehead. "You don't have to be afraid of me."

Her eyes flashed up. "I'm not afraid of you."

He found her lips with his and gave her a swift peck. "Good." He rubbed her sides. "Why don't you lay down then? I'll keep my hands to myself, I promise."

She sighed and he patted her hip before moving away. He grabbed some clothes off the top of his dresser and shut himself in the bathroom. She heard the water turn on and stood at the foot of the bed shifting her weight. She could leave right now. There was nothing keeping her here. If she stayed she'd only have to leave earlier in the morning than she usually did to go home and get dressed. At the same time she was tired and upset. She had spent endless months wishing she had someone to go to bed with. She liked waking up with someone, she liked waking up with David. She liked the warmth and closeness of it. She may be a private person but that didn't mean she wanted to end up as a hermit spinster. And for all his faults McNorris wasn't so bad. At least she knew what his faults were. Oh, God damn it, she'd already made her mind up about this.

Turning, she folded the blankets down and crawled under them. Closing her eyes she tried to go to sleep. The muffled sound of the shower lulled her and she was drifting in a twilight state when it turned off. A minute or two later she heard the door open but was too tired to move. The lights went out quickly and then the mattress shifted. She felt cool air hit her bare legs for a brief moment. Then it was warmer than before and his arm slipped over her stomach. He sighed quietly over her head and she scooted back into him. His arm tightened when she increased the contact between them. "I'm glad you stayed."

She shifted slightly. "Me too."

He held her close to him. "Are you still mad at me?"

"I don't know." She answered quietly. "Not as much as yesterday if I am."

He was quiet for a second. "The papers you wanted are in my briefcase."

"How did you have time to get annulment papers today?"

"You said you wanted them. I got them."

Twisting over so she was facing him she decided she wasn't mad at all now. "Thank you, David."

He didn't seem very happy about the papers, or her gratefulness over knowing they were here, but he nodded all the same. "You're welcome."

She could sense he was upset over it and that upset her right back. Leaning her head forward she tucked her face under his chin. "You have to understand why I wanted those."

"I do." He said, voice somewhat strained.

"I'm not trying to hurt your feelings."

"I know." He started rubbing his hand over her back. "If that's what you need to feel better about this then that's fine. Let's not talk about it."

For some reason that made her feel even worse. She kissed his neck, as more of a distraction than an apology, and slid her hand up under his shirt. His breathing changed at the touch and his hand slid more firmly down her spine. "You're going to make me break my promise. You can't very well expect me to keep my hands to myself when you won't do the same."

She supposed that was true. It really wasn't fair of her to tease him when she asked him not to touch her. Pulling back slightly he tucked her hair behind her ear as he settled his head on the pillow. He looked into her eyes and smiled at her with more affection than she'd ever seen him display. "I do love you." Unexpectedly, the statement, so full of honesty, had a tear rolling down her cheek. No one had said that to her, and meant it, in such a long time.

No one had said it to her at all since she was hurt. Her own parents hadn't said that to her when the remains of her team finally found her, even though they had thought she was dead. Then again, her parents had rarely bestowed such words unless she had done something outstanding academically. Surviving a serial killer apparently didn't rate very high on their achievement scale. David's eyes softened and he used his thumb to brush the wetness away. Lifting her head she kissed him a little desperately and he soothed her when he felt her reaction. "It's okay." She nodded, unable to think of anything to say, and pressed closer to him.

Shifting, he pulled her into a hug. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and she tried to hide her face. He didn't stop her and she was grateful for that. A thought popped into her head and she shared it because she thought he should know. "You're really good to me, even when you're being stupid."

He responded seriously. "I'm trying, baby doll."

"I know." She buried her head farther into his chest. "You're doing a good job." Even if he had lied about the whole getting married thing. As mad as that had made her she did understand his anxiety over letting her know. He was used to people walking out or resenting him for being a part of their lives. He hadn't wanted her to fall into that category. He had been trying to keep her the only reasonable way he could see. She knew he really was trying to be as good for her as he could. "How am I doing?"

"Better than me." He managed to tilt her head up and kiss her. "I like having you here with me." She tapped the side of his nose affectionately and he smiled. "I like waking up with you. I like eating with you. I like hearing you moving around and getting into trouble."

"I don't get into trouble here." She pouted.

He chuckled. "Darcy, you can't stay out of it."

"Untrue, I am constantly staying out of trouble and keeping you out of it to boot."

"You wouldn't have to do that if you weren't in trouble to begin with." She opened her mouth to argue than realized he was pretty right about that. He laughed again and kissed her forehead. "Go to sleep before you wind yourself up. I like that you're trouble. I am too. We get along pretty well because of it."

"I suppose." She agreed reluctantly.

"I like when you agree with me too."

She punched his arm lightly and he chuckled. "Go to sleep before we get into another fight, ghost boy. And you say I'm a smart ass." He grinned and they kissed chastely before she snuggled up against him again. Over her head he let out a soft sigh and relaxed. She was out in moments.

Author Note: I'm getting these out so fast for you guys. Show me some love by reviewing!


	25. Satisfaction: Month Eighteen

Disclaimer: Boomtown isn't mine.

**25. –Month Eighteen**

"I need a vacation. A real one this time." She flopped down on the DDA's couch with a sigh. He huffed at her as he looked at her movie collection. Stretching out all the way along the sofa she groaned in relief as her back popped. "Seriously, that was possibly one of the longest weeks of my life."

At least it was over. It had taken them six long days to find the bomber, which really, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't that long. She was pleased and impressed that Hicks could navigate through the FBI bureaucracy so well. He'd kept the department on the case and it had paid off. One of the night cops she had worked with a few months back had gotten a tip from his street contacts. Things had moved fast after that. The department had bagged him and tagged him. The man, who was convinced a nameless entity was directing him to wipe the city clean, had nearly blown up the group that had gone after him, but Fearless was quick on his feet. Good thing he was too. He saved his partner, six feds, and Ray and Tom. McNorris had taken care of the legal side after she questioned the man with Joel. Fearless had been too wound up to go into interrogation with them. She didn't blame him; if she had nearly blown up she wouldn't have been too relaxed either.

This was the first time in five days she had been away from the department for more than a few hours at a time. She had only left to shower and change. She had been sleeping in the break room when she could catch a minute, or her car. That had been a relatively good three hours. Once she had fallen asleep on the couch in McNorris' office in the wee hours of the morning. When she woke up he was typing away where she had left him. The only reason she knew he'd moved was because he had put his jacket over her while she was sleeping. She had found that really sweet.

Needless to say, when everything was over she had needed to unwind. She suggested a movie at his house and he agreed on the condition that they could eat crappy Chinese takeout from his favorite place. An hour later and she was at his door with her movies, all in a single large CD case, and a bag of assorted goodies. They had eaten quickly and she had tossed a fortune cookie at his chest when he seemed intent on ignoring the treat. It simply wasn't right to not eat one. He had sent her a look and she had pointed at the cookie with mock sternness.

"Why is this important?" He asked as he reluctantly opened the plastic it was in.

"Because you have to play the 'in bed' game. It's vital to the bad takeout experience."

"The 'in bed' game?"

She gazed at him in horror. "You've never played?"

"No."

"That's unbelievably wrong, but that's okay. It's never too late to be cool."

"You're vocabulary astounds me. I thought you went to school."

"Shut it and open your cookie."

Shaking his head, he cracked the cookie and pulled out the paper as she did the same. Giggling, she read hers and looked up at him. "Okay, so all you do is read your fortune out loud and then add the words 'in bed' to the end of it."

"Why?"

"Because it's funny."

"This is juvenile."

"That's the whole point. Don't be so uptight. I'll go first." Straightening her paper with a flourish she read it. "'Your imagination is a great asset', in bed."

His lip twitched. She knew he would like this game. She pointed to the piece of paper he had yet to look at. Lifting it to his eyes he read it to her. "'Skill comes from diligence', in bed."

She laughed happily. "That was a good one."

"Where'd you pick this up?"

"My friends at college. There was this little family owned place right across the street from school we used to hang out in. Believe it or not the owner taught us. This little old Chinese woman, it was great." Picking up the empty containers she tossed them in the trash and returned to help him put the leftovers in the fridge. Bumping him slightly with her hip she tried to get him to admit that had been fun. "Besides, you know you liked that."

"It has its charm." She had stretched her spine and retreated to his living room. Now she was watching him search through her disks as she got comfortable. She decided she was never going to move again. "Do you have enough science fiction?" He asked.

"Those are the best."

"Attack of the Killer Slug?"

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she smiled. "You're missing the point."

"There's a point to killer slugs?"

"Yeah, you're supposed to make fun of them. You need to lighten up some. You take everything too seriously."

"Some things need to be taken seriously."

"Agreed, but your at home, after work, supposedly relaxing. We've talked about having fun before."

"I remember."

"Then put in a movie and stop questioning the giant slugs."

He shook his head and removed a DVD. She couldn't see what he had chosen but didn't say anything as it loaded. He picked up two remotes and walked over to her. Setting them on the end table next to her head he bent down and hooked his hands under her arms. She made a sad sound at being moved but he sat quickly and let her put her head on his leg. Grumbling a bit, she wiggled until she was comfortable again as he set up the player. It was amazing that a man that never watched his television set could work the duel remote system and navigate through menus with such ease.

When he had the machine on the right channel, and the screen was loading, he reached over and turned off the lamp. The room was plunged into darkness as his widescreen came to life. Reaching down he set his hand on her head and she shifted. He hadn't been wrong about her getting used to him touching her. What had started out as skittishness that bordered on panic had morphed into a few moments of uncertainty before she relaxed. When she calmed he started stroking her hair and she hummed softly. This was nice.

When Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy came on she was pleasantly surprised. "Have you seen this before?" She asked.

"No."

She smiled as the main credits started. When the dolphins started singing he sighed glumly. She laughed and patted his knee. "You'll like it. Be patient and enjoy the big band music. It's not jazz, but it's kinda close."

He didn't complain and a few minutes later started to chuckle as the movie progressed. Pleased that he was enjoying it, she let her arm hang over his knee for the next hour. When he started to shift his leg she sat up, she didn't want to make him loose feeling in his limbs. He caught her around the waist and pulled her down in the opposite direction she had been lying so he could spoon up behind her. He murmured into her ear. "Better." Then his attention returned to the screen.

By the time the movie ended their legs were tangled up and he had a half smile stuck on his face. She twisted her torso so she could see him better. "Did you like it?"

"Yes, but I have a few questions."

"You'll have to read the books to see if you get the answers."

"There's a book about this?"

"The movie is based of the first one in the series."

"How many books are there?"

"Five, although one book is only about ten pages long if I remember right."

"That's ridiculous."

Her lip twitched. "Because the movie was so serious?"

He shook his head. "I see why you like it." She rolled her eyes and he kissed her. Turning her over he nuzzled her face affectionately and she stretched her neck up to make it easier for him. As his arm wrapped over her back he sighed into her skin. "I missed you the last few days."

"I missed you too." It was an odd realization. How could she have gotten used to waking up with him after only a few days? At her quiet confession he kissed her deeply and rolled her under him. Shifting with him, she let her legs fall to either side of his hips. Almost as soon as he was settled he kissed her deeply and ground his pelvis into hers. Whimpering, she arched up into him and he growled into her mouth. Snaking his arm under her he hauled her up with his lips pressed firmly over hers. Clutching at his shoulders she held onto him and he stood up.

Her legs locked around his waist as he carried her toward the bedroom and she kissed her way along his jaw. The last week had been an unexpected halt to their forward progress. They hadn't had time to sleep, let alone spend time together. She was torn between lust and fear, but she knew her anxiety, at least the large majority of it, had nothing to do with him. She wanted to be rocked into oblivion. She wanted to moan and cry out in the safe darkness of his bedroom. She just needed to get past her initial panic.

He kicked the door shut as he passed through the threshold, and taking three more steps, lowered them down onto the bed. Moving her up on the mattress he nibbled on her lower lip and ran his hand along her stomach. Her nervousness increased but she didn't protest when his fingers slipped under the fabric to stroke her skin. He looked from her body to her face. "Okay?" He questioned gruffly.

She licked her lips. "I just…" Her voice dropped. "I have a lot of scars." She looked past him toward the ceiling as she said it. She knew he had caught a brief look at her back but he hadn't had any time to really see her skin. It was bad. She didn't care what he'd said about her making it worse in her mind. She knew her skin looked awful and she knew how hyper focused he was on appearances. It set her on edge.

He kissed her cheek. "I don't care."

He might later, until then maybe she should enjoy the experience. Nodding, she caught his face and kissed him hotly. He hummed happily and took hold of the bottom of her shirt. Tugging it up she lifted herself enough for him to get it off her before she pressed her back into the blankets. Even so a few of the longer marks curved around her sides where he could see. Ignoring the scars, he caressed her belly and ribs as he stared down at her lace-covered chest. She nearly rolled her eyes even as she praised herself for wearing the set of underwear she'd picked out for him over here. Men.

Then he lowered his head and kissed his way from her collarbone to the top of her bra. She sucked in a breath and then he covered one of them with his large hand and squeezed her gently. Letting out a soft breath she pressed up into his palm encouragingly. His hand snuck behind her and flicked the clasp open. She blinked at the speedy removal; apparently he was too tired of waiting to admire her in the lace for long. "Someone's had practice."

He laughed at her as he slid the straps down her arms. "You'll find I have a few more talents than you thought." He boasted.

She eyed him and tried to destroy his ego before he could blow it up any farther. "We'll see."

Amused with her, he tossed her bra off the bed and lowered his head to attack her breasts. When he latched onto one of her nipples she let out a moan and tangled her fingers in his short hair. Scratching his scalp lightly with her nails had him rumbling in approval, sending the vibrations down through her body. Shuddering, her eyes closed as she fell into the sensations. Once he had her writhing under him he pulled his head up and reached for the fastening on her jeans. Once he tugged down the zipper she caught his shirt and yanked at it. Getting the hint, that if he was going to see her she was most certainly going to see him, he sat up and tore it over his head before propping himself over her. She ran her hands over his skin and felt his muscles tightening and bunching under her touch.

He caught her hands as they strayed toward his pants and put them on his shoulders. She smirked slightly when she spotted the bulge. He was as eager for this as she was. He shook his head and she ran her hands up over his back before catching his face. Looking up into his face she asked him a question. "Are we going to be doing this again?"

"Yes." He replied at once.

"Good." She kissed him hard before breaking away breathlessly. "Then we can go slow next time."

His whole body tightened and then he was up again and peeling her pants and panties off. She lifted her hips for him and he tossed the material away as he got off the bed long enough to get rid of his own before laying over her. His hand darted between her legs to rub her and she whined. She was already wet. He really didn't need to help her along this time, although she appreciated the thought. Grabbing his hips she tugged him closer before wrapping her legs around his waist possessively.

With a groan of relief he rubbed himself along the outside of her and she leaned up and started kissing his neck and jaw. Grabbing her face he turned it and locked his lips against hers as he pressed against her opening. Clutching at his arms she lifted her hips as he pressed forward slowly. She panted as he slid in and could tell already that she was most likely going to be sore when this was over, he was working to slip all the way inside her, but at this moment she couldn't find it in herself to care. When he finally bottomed out she let out a breath and he groaned in pleasure. Then he kissed her again and this time it was hot and slow. When he broke away her legs tightened and she arched her back. Her body was begging for relief. "Move, David."

He nipped at her shoulder and started rocking his hips gently, being careful not to hurt her. She began to whimper inside of a minute and he kissed her as her cries got louder. When he swiveled his hips and hit her clit she let out a small shout. Pleasure rocketed through her and she arched up into him. She had forgotten how good this could feel. She was starting to spiral up and gasped out a request. "Harder."

He complied and she heard the bed start to squeak even as she moaned in approval. One of his hands snapped out to grab the headboard to give himself more leverage. Jerking under him she scratched his back as he brought her to the edge. "Darcy." He grunted her name as he kissed her behind her ear. "God, you feel good."

All she could do was let out a long cry as he thrust into her and sent her spinning over the ledge. Her body tightened all around him and he pressed into her as deeply as he could. He let out his own strangled shout and warmth spread out inside of her. Panting, he let his hand fall to the mattress next to her as he slumped down, his weight settling over her comfortingly after their release. Her own chest was heaving from their activities and a wave of affection for him rolled over her, it was amazing what hormones could do.

With a soft sound of satisfaction he pulled out of her and dragged her against his chest as he got comfortable. Curling up with him at her back she felt his breathing slowly even out as he kissed his way along her jaw. "Good?"

"Yes." She turned her head slightly and found his lips. Her body was starting to go slack as the week caught up with her, and he stroked her cheek before collapsing next to her. Her body began to go slack as a wave of sleepiness hit her. They should really try that again at a more sedate pace when they woke up again. That was her last real thought before she drifted off against him. The next thing she knew she was simply awake. It was still dark out but she could feel the sun getting ready to rise. She was too used to getting up at this time of day. McNorris was breathing deeply behind her and she relaxed as her eyes traced the familiar room lazily.

Laying under his arm in the pre-dawn darkness she let her mind wander in slow, contented circles. She was pleasantly sated and comfortable here. She couldn't remember feeling like this. She knew that at some point she had, but she couldn't seem to put herself in that place anymore. It was like she was looking back at someone else's life and not her own. Even so she realized, for the first time, that she missed her family.

She had known she missed them before but she had never allowed herself to think about it. It hurt too much to let herself dwell on things she couldn't change. Or things she had no intention of changing, the things that gave her nightmares that she had no one to blame for but herself. She pushed that away and focused on the reason she was contemplating her family at all. She figured she was thinking about this now because of McNorris. He was the first thing that even resembled a family she'd had since she left. She thought that should make her nervous but it didn't.

"What are you thinking about?" His low whisper rippled over her skin, his warm breath stirring her hair.

Turning her head she found his eyes were still closed and her hand rubbed down his arm. "How do you know I'm thinking about anything?"

"You're always thinking about something." He moved his arm so he could stroke her hair. "I don't think you know how to stop."

"Do you?"

"No. It's frustrating actually."

"As long as it's not just me."

He smiled into her shoulder as he kissed her, his eyes still closed. "Well? What were you thinking about?"

"You."

He hummed in approval. "Glad I made an impression."

She huffed out a lazy laugh and stretched against him, knowing full well what she was doing. "You were all right."

His hum turned to a growl as his eyes snapped open in fake indignation. "All right?"

"Mhmmm."

"I see." His tone changed. It got dark and low, and she wasn't sure exactly what she had done. Then he had her on her back and was staring down at her. "I'll have to see if I can improve your opinion of my performance then." Lowering his head he sucked on her neck, the very base of it, expertly and she moaned softly. "Going to make you scream yourself hoarse and then we can have this conversation again. How's that sound, baby doll?"

"Unlikely." She knew she was goading him as well as he did. It didn't make his reaction to said goading any less passionate. He trailed his lips down her body with amazing skill. By the time he hit her navel she was writhing under him and she could smell her own arousal every time she sucked in a breath.

Of course he commented on it. "Don't you smell like heaven?" She tangled her fingers in the sheets as he continued. "I bet you taste just as good." Spreading her legs he kissed her hipbone before moving inward. She whimpered and he nipped at the skin above her curls in response. Looping his arm around her leg he held her still before wrapping his lips around her clit. Hissing in approval her back arched as sensation shot through her. His other hand splayed out over her stomach to hold her down and his tongue flicked out to tease her.

When she started to cry out it only made him more enthusiastic. She gasped when he bit her gently and then he laughed into her. That only made her buck harder. He was too damn good at this. She knew he knew it too, because his tongue lapped over her in a way that made her start to tighten up. His grip tightened and she let out an involuntary cry. He sucked her again, hard, and she lost it. Her eyes rolled back in her head as her back arched up off the bed. He continued to tease her with his mouth as she came, dragging out her orgasm for so long it almost hurt.

When he finally left her alone she slumped to the blankets, panting hard. He kissed his way up her body slowly as his hands ran over her flushed skin soothingly. Her hands came up languidly and started brushing through his hair. He nipped at her ribs then trailed up to her neck. "That was close to a scream." He kissed her under her jaw.

"That's about as loud as I get." She told him honestly.

He hummed in interest. "You know how I love a challenge, Darcy."

She laughed quietly and he nibbled at her jaw. "Don't let me stand in the way."

He growled and kissed her hard as he tangled his hand in her short hair. "We can try this standing later."

She laughed breathlessly. "Aren't you the witty one this morning?"

He hummed his agreement as he reached down and spread her legs open. She cradled him between her hips as he kissed her again. He simply laid over her for awhile and kissed her, warming her back up. About five minutes in, she decided this was far more enjoyable than she remembered it being. Twisting, her head she kissed his jaw as her hands slid down his sides. Sighing contentedly had him running his hand over her cheek. He was being surprisingly gentle as they touched and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. She knew he was ready, but he wasn't pushing to move fast. He wasn't pushing at all actually. So she pushed him, literally. She was straddling him before he knew she'd moved.

His eye glittered approvingly as she sat up over him, putting herself on full display, and his hands ran along her abdomen before settling on her hips. Her eyes hooded as she gazed down at him and then she began to rock gently. He was trapped between her legs and she wasn't about to let him go anywhere unless he did something about it. He must have seen the playful glint in her because he reached behind her and smacked her just hard enough to make noise. She pinched him in retribution and he sat up, flipping her to her back.

She yipped in surprise as she bounced and he smirked at her as he pushed himself to his knees. "You are the worst tease I've ever met."

She saw a flaw in that statement. "I can't be that bad considering you got lucky last night."

He reached down and rubbed her with the heel of his hand. "I'm about to get lucky again."

She hummed and wrapped her legs around his hips. "Yes, you are."

He smirked at her before grabbing her hips and positioning her. Then he was sliding inside and she moaned at the sensation. His own groan of approval mixed with hers and she reached toward him so she would have at least some say in how they were going to be moving. She could already tell McNorris liked to be in the dominant position and that didn't bother her at all. Despite her own dominance in the workplace and social environments she liked having her sexual partners take the lead. She actually liked them to go a bit farther than that but she didn't think this was the best moment to address the issue, or even if she'd be able to handle games like that anymore.

David began to move and she whimpered at him. He grunted and thrust harder. Moaning again, she reached for him and pulled at his thighs as he bottomed out inside her. He must have been annoyed by her attempt to gain some sort of control and grabbed her hands. Yanking her up he cupped her ass and started to bounce her up and down. She gripped at his shoulders and he kissed her hard. His free arm pressed along her back and held her head where he wanted it. Moaning into his mouth had him bouncing her a bit harder and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders in an attempt to ground herself.

He groaned into her and she rolled her hips as she kept up with him. They had worked up a sweat and she was spiraling up when he laid them back down. She mewled at the change in position and tightened around him. With a growl, he curled up and continued to move inside her at a steady pace. She was so glad he was keeping his cool because she was about to snap. Gasping his name she began to tighten and his hand snuck down between her legs. He flicked her clit twice and she was gone. Letting out a long, low whimper she came.

He stopped moving a few seconds later and sequins of color exploded behind her eyes. Gasping her way back down to him she was surprised to realize he was still hard inside of her. Her hands tightened around his arms and he kissed her once before pulling out and flipping her to her stomach. Getting to her hands and knees she forgot all about what her back looked like as she arched back toward him, eager to let him take her in this position, it would feel so good.

Running his hands over her skin he finally grabbed her hips and thrust inside her. Letting out a choked moan she tangled her fingers in the sheets and rocked with him as he moved. And God did he know how to move. He began to twist his hips when he pushed in and she started to spiral up yet again. Progressively loud mewls erupted from her and he grunted every time he bottomed out. Her vision began to blur and she shut her eyes tightly as she gripped at the bedding. "Come for me, Darcy."

The growled command sent her over the edge and she screamed her release. Behind her David let out his own shout and let go with her. She was trembling in total pleasure when he slumped forward and his body pressed her into the mattress. Unconcerned with that, she lay half under him panting and gasping. Drifting in a pleasant haze of languid pleasure she felt a blanket cover her and then David spooned up around her after pulling out of carefully. Murmuring contently, her eyes fell closed. She was close to asleep again when he rasped conceitedly in her ear. "I knew I could get you to scream."

"Stop being a smug bastard. It's unattractive."

He chuckled and kissed the back of her head. "You're attractive enough for both of us."

"Aww, too much."

He chuckled and kissed her shoulder, and then he stretched out behind her with a satisfied sigh. They laid there for awhile before she decided she wanted a caffeine hit. She was sliding out of bed when he caught her and pulled her all the way over his body before pinning her to the bed. "Where are you going?"

She decided to mess with him. "I've had my way with you. Why should I stay?"

His eyes glittered and he tangled his hand in her hair and eyed her reprovingly. "I'm not letting you out of this bed until tomorrow." He kissed her again. "At the earliest."

"David?"

"Hmmm?" He started kissing is way along her jaw.

She ran her hands up over his shoulders as she let her voice drop suggestively. "If I'm going to stay in bed with you all day having sex there's something I want you to try for me."

She felt him tighten up with interest. That sure got his attention fast. "What's that?" His fingers began to explore her skin as his voice turned husky.

She tangled her fingers in his hair and rubbed herself against him. "It can get a little steamy."

"Tell me." He growled into her shoulder right before he bit it gently.

"You can't think I'm weird or freaky or something."

He was practically vibrating with curiosity. He started to tighten up again and she knew he was going to flip when she ended the teasing. "I'm surprisingly open-minded."

Leaning in she whispered into his ear suggestively. "Make me coffee."

He sighed and lifted his head. "Make you coffee?" She started to laugh and he rolled his eyes. "You're lucky I appreciate that you're a smart ass."

Lifting her hand she smacked his ass. "Coffee, ghost boy!"

"Hey!" He grabbed her wrists and pinned them next to her. "No need to get rough." She pouted up at him and he grumbled. "I'll get you coffee."

Smiling at the win, she pulled him down and kissed him in thanks. "Sweet to me."

He grumbled as he got up and grabbed his pants off the floor. Stepping into them he walked out of the room and she smirked. Stretching out over the rumpled blankets she sighed contentedly before closing her eyes and pulling the sheet around her middle, covering herself. McNorris came in a few minutes later and she sat up, holding the fabric around herself, as he held the mug out to her. He laid back down on the bed next to her after setting his own cup on the nightstand. She took a few sips before sitting hers down as well and crawling over him.

He watched her silently as she leaned over him and kissed his chest. A few seconds later and he was tugging the sheet off her as she slithered up his body. When she was even with him she started tracing nonsensical patterns over his skin. Bending her head she kissed the base of his jaw and he hummed contentedly. "Where's this going, McNorris?"

"What?"

"Where is this going?" When she lifted her head she found herself staring into his surprised eyes.

"We're married."

"Unwillingly." She tapped her fingers over his shoulder. "And you don't have the best track records with marriage, David. I won't stay in one with a cheater."

His eyes darkened but she would give him points for not breaking eye contact. "There were a lot of things wrong with my first marriage. Most of them were my fault. I won't make those mistakes again. Not with you. I don't drink anymore and you and I have things in common. That was a big problem for me before."

"I know." She eyed him. "But I want to be very clear with you." He nodded and she continued. "If you cheat on me or start drinking again the consequence will be far from pleasant. I'm not as nice as Marian. I don't care how good you are in bed."

His lip twitched once before he nodded again. "All right." Reaching up he stroked her hair. "I'll keep that firmly in mind as long as you realize that running and name calling isn't going to get you anything with me but trouble for you. I can be mean too."

"Fair." Dipping down she kissed him. He returned it easily and she broke away after a few moments. "In that case we can go back to the torrid sex."

He laughed and sent her a lecherous look before rolling them over. "Is that so?" She hummed and wrapped her legs around his waist. "I hate to tell you this but that might take a few more minutes."

She laughed up at him and tickled at his ribs. "Not as young as you used to be are you?"

"You are mean." He nipped at her neck and she wriggled at the sensation.

"You love it." In response his hand slipped down between her legs and he smirked when she jolted at the sudden touch. She couldn't find it in herself to scold him for being overconfident at the moment. This felt too good. The attorney just might be able to keep her here for a full two days.


	26. Navigation: Month Nineteen

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**26. Navigation –Month Nineteen**

"Dare I ask what you're doing now?" She wasn't surprised to find David sitting on the couch when she got home. She was surprised to see him in his jeans with her suitcase on the floor next to him even if they did have a four-day weekend.

"Waiting for you. Get changed."

That left a lot of room for interpretation. "Changed for what?"

He stood up and grabbed the bag. "I thought you wanted to go see the redwoods?"

She blinked at him as he came around the couch. "What?"

"I got us a cabin. Do you still want to go?"

She felt her face split into a huge smile and she jumped at him. He grunted in surprise as she wrapped her arms around him and he dropped her bag as he opted to wrap his arms around her instead. Breaking away she kissed his face all over in excitement. She couldn't believe he had planned a trip to the place she wanted to go the most. "Really?"

He hummed in answer as he backed her into the door. "Really." Her fingers grazed down his chest as he pinned her against the wood. "I take it you're happy?" She thought that went without saying, she was vibrating with excitement over the idea of it.

He grabbed at her jacket and pushed it off her shoulders as she fumbled with the fastening on his pants. She found she thoroughly enjoyed having David all over her. He was incredibly attentive in bed. Actually, she had found he was incredibly attentive all the time. He was good at remembering details and he proved it over and over again when they were alone together. From her favorite food to her favorite places to be touched, he remembered.

The last few weeks had been amazing. He hadn't been lying when he said he was going to keep her in bed that first weekend. They had rarely left the mattress other than to eat or clean up, and they hadn't left the house at all. When she'd told him she was hungry he had simply grabbed his cell phone up off the dresser and ordered food to be delivered.

After two days of being loved to within an inch of her life she was amazed she made it into work on Monday, hell, she was amazed she could walk. After nearly two years without having a partner she was more than a little sensitive. When ghost boy first noticed she was tender he had run her a bath and plopped her in the warm water. He had followed after her with a rather smug smile on his face. She knew he was remembering their conversation on the elevator and she nearly hit him. Then she decided she felt to good to be mad and simply relaxed back into his chest.

Since then they hadn't spent a night apart, in any sense. The two times she'd gone to her own condo after work he'd followed her once he realized she wasn't going to show up at his house, which had somehow become their base of operations. Most of her clothes were over there now and he wasn't protesting. The second week after they'd slept together she'd found more than half his closet and three of his dresser drawers emptied for her. The man had even gotten clever and offered up a silent bribe; he'd installed a shoe rack in the walk in for her. That had tickled her pink. She'd never had a shoe rack before, she just kept all her shoes as contained as possible in one of those large plastic tubs you could get at any large home store chain. She was starting to wonder how long it would be before he verbally asked, or tried to con her, to move in and give up her condo. She was already trying to decide what her answer was going to be and was leaning toward moving in pretty heavily. It would just make things easier, although she wasn't entire clear on what she was going to do with all her furniture.

"Wall or couch?" He nipped at her neck as he asked, reaching for the bottom of her skirt.

Arching her neck she decided to let herself indulge in a bit of a fantasy. She figured she had the luxury of indulgence with him right now. "Couch."

The second he moved away she kissed him hard and stepped past him. Reaching the couch she stopped in front of the armrest and bent over. McNorris was behind her in an instant and running his hands over her hips, tickling her with the fabric of her skirt. "Aren't you naughty today?" He asked with an amused, lust-filled rumble.

She looked over her shoulder at him and arched her back invitingly. Three weeks of sleeping together was enough for her to trust that he wasn't about to push her farther than she could go. Letting him get behind her and pin her in place was a huge leap of faith for her, but this was one of her favorite positions. At least it had been and there was something very exciting about being taken with all her clothes on. It just felt so naughty. Besides, McNorris seemed to get into it fast enough. Grabbing the hem of her skirt he shoved it up over her hips and ran his hand over the bare skin between her tights and her panties.

"Do you want to play?" He hooked his thumbs around the sides of the silk as he asked.

"No." She knew exactly what to say to get him moving at the pace she wanted. She'd learned more than a little bit about what the man liked to do in between the sheets. She hadn't been wrong that first morning when she thought he liked assert his dominance in the bedroom. He wasn't shy about putting her in the position he wanted her in when he wanted her in it. Not that he didn't back off if she asked him to, but that had only happened twice, and both times he had brushed her embarrassment over freaking out away without blinking an eye. He never mentioned her shying away from certain things either. She suspected he might be testing to see exactly where her boundaries were and what caused those barriers to shoot up. But pushing that aside she had also noticed that a little dirty talk when a long way in getting him excited. It was fascinating to her just how little it did take, at the right moment, to have him pawing at her with frantic, groping hands. "I want to fuck."

The effect of her words was immediate. He tore the panties off her and loosened his pants enough to slip out of them. Spreading her legs when she felt him behind her she was unprepared for him to grab her and lift her higher over the armrest of the sofa. When he set her down her toes were barely brushing the ground and her ass was sticking in the air. She shoved her hands out to slow her forward momentum and he thrust into her while she was off balance. Letting out a cry she felt him slip all the way inside her with a single push. Clutching at the cushions she pressed into him as much as she could as he moved.

"David!" She was panting his name as he bottomed out inside of her. "Yes!"

Her cries got louder and he started moving faster. "Scream, Darcy." His hands tightened on her hips and she heard the hitch in his breathing. He wasn't going to be able to make it much longer. "You know I like to hear that. Come."

Reaching under her he rubbed her clit as he spoke and she lost it. Crying his name out loudly she jerked and he held her close as he thrust into her one last time. A strangled groan escaped him as he let go with her. He listed forward and her hips were pressed between his pelvis and the arm of her couch. Gasping in air she felt wetness trickling down her thigh. David started rubbing her neck and she licked her lips as her head rested on the couch cushion, spinning pleasantly. That had been so good and he was still buried inside of her causing small shivers of pleasure to cascade down her spine every time he sucked in air.

A lazy, satisfied smile crept over her. "You okay back there?"

He huffed out a laugh and ran his hand from her shoulders to her bunched up skirt as he straightened. Tugging the fabric down her hips after he slid out of her, he reached down and helped her up, spinning her around as he did. When she was facing him he set her on the arm of the couch and kissed her affectionately. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled him against her, liking him close after they had sex. He caught her sides and rubbed her over her blouse. "We're never going to make it to the cabin at this rate." He commented even as he tucked her hair behind her ears and nibbled at her jaw.

That's right. They were going to see the redwoods. Kissing him one more time she shoved him back gently. "I'll be ready in five minutes."

Raising an eyebrow he lifted his arm and looked at his watch. Grinning at the challenge she dashed to their room. Getting out of her work clothes she went into the bathroom and cleaned herself off quickly. When she was done she found her favorite pair of jeans, a fitted t-shirt, and a jacket. Grabbing her sneakers out of the closet she slipped them on over a pair of her thicker socks and went out into the living room. She figured it might be colder up north than here in L.A. and was trying to dress accordingly, it was still spring after all, if they went up in the mountains there might still be snow. McNorris glanced as his watch again and smiled. "Four and a half. Impressive time, baby doll."

"Do I need to bring anything?" She asked to be sure he had packed all her essentials.

"I got everything you might need in your suitcase."

Snatching her purse and keys back up she followed him out the door. Locking up as he went to load the car she practically skipped to the passenger side of his Cadillac and jumped in. When he got in beside her his lip was curled up at the corner. Before he could put the car in gear she leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. "I'm very excited about this."

"I could tell." Turning his head around so he could see out of the rear window he backed out of her driveway and headed toward the interstate. "We're taking the train. It's faster and they have a shuttle to the park once you get there."

She studied him with interest; impressed he had this planned out so well. "Thank you."

He shrugged as he merged onto the busy freeway, keeping his eyes on the traffic. "It's only a cabin."

"For planning everything." She kissed his cheek again. His forethought had made this an easy and carefree trip for her already. There was no stress or worry about where she was going to stay or how she was going to get there. "This is really nice."

He glanced over at her as if no one had ever thanked him for anything before. "You're welcome." He reached over and she twined her fingers with his. "Have you been to San Francisco? We could stop there for a couple of hours on the way back if you want to see it."

"I've been there. It's a fun city. I liked the trolleys."

"Tourist." He accused. Apparently after spending this much time here she shouldn't behave in such a manner.

She laughed and stuck her tongue out at him. "Whatever, Mr. Massachusetts."

"That's better than Wisconsin."

Her eyes sparkled at him. At least their easy banter and camaraderie hadn't vanished now that they were sharing a bed. "You wound me. You can pretend you're California born all you want but you can't fool me. You're an implant just like me."

"But only you know that because I blend in so well." He squeezed her hand with good humor as he pulled into the parking lot outside the train station. "Unlike you. You still stick out. Seriously, Darcy, you need to tan more."

She poked at him as he fell back on his favorite point of mockery. He loved to point out that her skin was paler than most people here, but she supposed he usually felt so alone being an albino that she let him tease without reprimand. She didn't mind that she was a shade or two under golden bronze; she was still tanner than she had been before she moved here.

Unbuckling her seatbelt she got out of the car and slung her purse over her shoulder as she headed toward the trunk. David was already getting his suitcase out and she grabbed hers before he could. When he made a move to take it she spun away and started toward the entrance with a sassy swing of her hips. He was close behind her and she heard his car chirp as he locked it. He picked up their tickets at the office, which he had reserved, and they walked toward their terminal. As they went he pointed toward some vending machines. "They serve dinner on the train but not until eight. If you want a snack you should get one now."

She thought she would do that since it was only five now and her stomach was grumbling at her. "Do you want anything?" She set her suitcase down next to him as he chucked his in a chair.

"Water, please."

"Anything to eat?" She eyed the machines as she dug her small change purse out of her bag. "I spy gummy bears."

He was surprised that she mentioned his favorite candy and she smirked as she made her way toward the treats. Three minutes later and she sat next to him with the brightly colored candies, two drinks, and a bag of chips for herself. "Exactly how much do you watch me?" He asked as he opened the bag of tiny bears.

She shrugged. "I'm a profiler. I was trained to be observant. I know a lot of things about the people I'm around and I'm with you more than anyone else." He accepted that and they munched on their treats as they waited for their train. She broke the silence when she was nearly done with her snack "Is there anywhere you want to go?"

"What do you mean?" He asked as he contemplated two different colored bears. She wondered what his favorite flavor was and if he was trying to save them for last or go after them first.

"I've wanted to see the redwoods since I was ten. I saw them on TV. It's one of those places you promise yourself you'll see before you die. Don't you have one of those?"

"I always wanted to go to Hawaii."

Five years in L.A. and a short plane hop to the islands and he'd never been? This man really needed to use some of his vacation time. She figured she could make that happen. "Let's go."

He laughed quietly. "That's more than a weekend trip, even if it is a long weekend."

"So? I have vacation time. I'm sure you do." She bumped his shoulder amicably. "Let's go be beach bums and watch the surfers. I've never been to a luau either. I bet that's a ton of fun."

"You want to go to Hawaii for an extended period of time?"

She raised an eyebrow as she crumpled up her chip bag and tucked it into her back jeans pocket. She would toss it in the trash when they got up. "Because so many people would say no to that?"

"With me?"

She met his eyes in surprise. "Well, yeah. Why would I have asked otherwise?"

He shook his head slightly. "I don't know." He returned his attention to the gummy bears.

Frowning, she leaned into him and hooked her elbow with his. "David?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Why are you upset? We don't have to go if you don't want to. I thought it would be fun, but if you don't think so that's okay. I won't get mad if you don't want to go with me."

"I still don't understand you."

That threw her. "What? Why?"

"I'm amazed you're even talking to me after the fight we had and now you want to go on a long trip with me?"

She searched her recent memory. She couldn't recall a fight, friendly arguments sure, but no fights. "What fight?"

He shot her a disbelieving look. "The one where we got married."

"Oh." Was he still wound up about that? She was confused. "You're the one that wanted to stay together and try to make this work. Did you change your mind?" She thought she sounded sad. On second thought, she was sad. She loosened her arm from around his feeling dejected. She thought they were doing really well. She got along with him as well as she had Jason. Her feelings had gone from the general affection she had for him as a friend to something more than that. There was no point in pretending, she loved him and she knew it even if she had never said it.

"No." His answer was immediate and he leaned in to kiss her temple. "I didn't change my mind." He rested his forehead on hers. "I'm surprised you did."

"You're not the worst person I could have accidentally gotten married to." He sighed and she caught his hand when he started to pull away. "David, I'm not trying to be mean. I'm trying to be honest. I never wanted to get married again after… everything happened. I'm gun shy to the point of panic but I'm not stupid. We were heading toward being more than friends before we ever went to Vegas. The whole situation upsets me in a lot of ways. Other than not knowing about this it wasn't how I would have gotten married. We never went on a honeymoon, my family wasn't there, none of the friends I've made here were either, and neither of us have rings. Plus, we'd never been out on a date and ended up tying the knot in what I can only assume was a place that was neither classy or clean, not that I can remember. To top that off you were so afraid I was going to blow a gasket you didn't tell me, which by the way, you are still in the doghouse for. I don't like this agreement we have either."

"Why?"

It had only taken her two weeks to regret having put a time limit on this. She was glad she had the annulment papers, but this agreement was making her edgy. She didn't feel like it was doing anything positive for either of them at all. "We're married. We're supposed to be partners and I feel like we're in some sort of sick bet. Half the time I'm afraid you're going to decide this isn't worth it and leave. The other half of the time I'm worried you're afraid I'm going to bolt on you. I'm getting sick to my stomach thinking about it. So could we forget this whole six-month thing and just try to exist? I think that would make me feel a lot better about everything."

"I'd like that." He said softly.

"Good." She leaned toward him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Are we okay?"

"Yes."

"Anything you want to talk about while we're on the subject?"

"I'd like you to move in with me." Ah, there it was. She knew he would ask this sooner rather than later. "I don't like having to go home and get ready for work and I don't like you having to do it either. We're spending all our time together and most of your things are at the house. You've taken over my bathroom completely. We're already living together, let's make it less complicated and have one house."

She chewed on her lower lip for a few seconds. She did want to say yes to that but there was one thing preventing her from putting up a 'for sale' sign in her yard. "If I do that everyone is going to find out that we're married." How that hadn't slipped out yet was beyond her. It didn't even seem like anyone they knew was aware they were dating, although she'd gotten a suspicious look or two from Ray. Still, she didn't think he knew, he'd been too busy with some sort of family matter to bother stalking David recently.

"So?"

"That's going to rock the boat. The elections for DA are coming up soon. Is that really what you want? I'm not exactly the most loved individual in your circle of power with the way I run my mouth at meetings. It'll only take one of your supporters to turn on you because of me to loose."

He was quiet before a second before throwing her for a total head over heels loop. "I'm not sure I want to be the DA."

Shock hit her hard, so hard she was pleased she was already sitting down. For a brief moment she was convinced a shape shifter had killed him and taken his place. "What?" She sat up straight so they were on eye level. "That's what you've been after since you moved to L.A."

He sighed. "I'm starting to think this place may not be what's right for me. Since I moved here I've had an affair, been divorced, become an alcoholic, thought I killed a man on accident, gone to rehab, had to choose between my family and the right thing to do, and nearly screwed up what we have, which is the only good thing that's happened to me since I moved here. Hell, you're about the only good thing that's ever happened to me."

She stroked his cheek briefly, searching his eyes. "Do you know what you want to do?"

"Not yet." He admitted. "I'm only thinking right now. I don't have any sort of plan." He shrugged. "I have a good job here. I might not love it but it pays and I get to spend part of my workday with you. Besides, you're settled here now."

That might be true but she didn't want him miserable. He was much more pleasant when he was happy. "When you figure it out will you let me know? I want you to be happy."

His eyes softened. "You'll be the first one."

"Okay." Their train pulled in and was announced over the PA system.

David kissed her cheek. "Come on. Let's get some seats. We don't want to miss our ride. You'll never get to see the redwoods and then you'll explode." She grinned at him and grabbed at her bag. This time, he got to it first.


	27. Rest: Month Nineteen

Disclaimer: Boomtown isn't my property.

**27. Rest –Month Nineteen**

"Darcy." David was laughing as he attempted to tug her inside the cabin. "You can look at them all you want in the morning, when there's light outside."

"But, David-"

He pulled her inside and closed the door. "It's past midnight. It's too dark for you to see them."

She sighed and dropped her bag in the small outer room. There was a table on one side and a medium sized bed shoved in the back corner. It took up most of the space but it looked comfortable. Against the wall was a small stone fireplace, and there was a hall leading off to the back. She craned her neck as David started that way and she followed him. The hallway split and there was a small and primitive bathroom on one side and a fairly nice, if rustic, kitchen on the other.

He stopped in front of her and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she leaned into his back and gazed at the kitchen over his shoulder. She couldn't lie, she was digging this place big time. It was cozy, and cute, and smelled like the forest. She could actually feel herself relaxing in this atmosphere without even having to try. "This place is awesome."

He grinned at the happiness he heard in her voice and she kissed the nape of his neck. He reached back and stroked her side as they stood in the doorway. "Are you ready for bed?"

She rested her chin on his shoulder. "I'm ready to get in bed. Is that close enough?"

He took her hand and kissed it as he spun around. "I like the way you think."

She smiled into his mouth as he captured her lips and allowed him to back her toward the bed. When her legs hit the mattress she lifted her arms and he peeled her shirt over her head. She grabbed his as he was dropping the fabric, and soon he was shirtless as well. "You're a handsome man." She told him as she took a moment to admire him.

He puffed up a bit and she nearly laughed as she unhooked his pants. He must have seen her amusement because he kissed her and helped her out of her jeans with a playful grin. When she was in her bra and panties he grabbed her around the waist and tossed her over the blankets before kicking his own pants off and joining her. Laughing as they bounced, he growled into her neck teasingly. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

"Don't I know it?" She rolled quickly and ended up over his chest. She looked down at him as she propped herself on her elbows and he ran his hands up and down her body. Enjoying the easy touches she kissed him and rocked her hips slowly over his. Running his hand to the back of her head he held her against him as he explored her mouth. Warmth spread through her and she felt him getting hard under her as she moved. After several minutes he lost patience and flipped her under him.

Tangling his fingers in her hair he kissed her nose. "Slow?"

She ran her hands up his arms. "Are you getting romantic on me, McNorris?"

He smiled softly and kissed her cheek. "I'd get much more romantic if you'd let me."

Admittedly she wasn't the easiest woman to get romantic with. She was too practical for it. Most of the things most women found lovely and made them swoon had her rolling her eyes. Maybe it was just her, but reading poetry out loud to someone was just… well silly. But she was willing to let him give it a shot if he wanted. "By all means-" She pushed up and kissed him. "-woo me."

He laughed as he kissed her neck, finding the place that made her squirm with ease. "Woo you?"

"I would have said sweep me off my feet, but seeing as I'm already under you it seemed inappropriate."

David was thoroughly amused. "You're ridiculous."

"Admittedly, I'm the goof in this relationship."

"You are."

"That makes you the ball." She pointed out.

He blinked at her for a second as he put that together, then rolled his eyes. "Ridiculous." He repeated as he pushed his hand under her and opened her bra. Letting him remove it, she dug her fingers into his back and started to massage him. Sighing in approval, he kissed her. "You're good at that."

She kissed his jaw before wiggling out from under him. "Lay on your stomach."

Happy with the offer he let her out from under him. When she was loose she straddled his hips and put her hands on his shoulders. He stretched out with a contented sigh as she started to massage him. She noticed several faint marks on his skin again and wondered where he had gotten the small scars. Probably fighting. He liked that too much for his health.

She massaged him for about fifteen minutes before she decided to try something she'd been thinking about for a week. Her fingers dug into the long muscles along his spine and he grunted, torn between pain and pleasure. When his hips turned slightly she realized that had been a huge turn on for him. So pain was more than stress relief for him, it was actually a turn on. He was having a fairly obvious physical reaction to her hurting him. Still, she wasn't about to do that without permission. Leaning down so she was hovering beside his ear she whispered to him. "How much is the right amount of pain, David?"

He let out a breath and she realized he might not have ever allowed a woman to hurt him during sex or sex play, even if he had wanted them to. Digging her fingers into a pressure point lightly had him groaning. "Darcy."

She kissed his neck encouragingly. "Come on, David." She nipped at his skin. "You aren't going to shock or embarrass me. What turns you on? I'll make it happen, I promise."

"Christ almighty, woman." He twisted slightly to get her to stop. "You keep that up and the last thing I'm going to be able to do is stay gentle with you."

She thought about that response and found another pressure point on the small of his back, pushing it lightly. After a moment of thought she decided that it would be okay for him to get a little rougher with her than normal. She trusted him enough to allow him that kind of control now. She knew David wouldn't really hurt her and no matter how rough they played he would stop the second she asked him to. Plus, she doubted he would even get that physically aggressive, he was too careful with her.

She knew the thought of hurting her was abhorrent to him even if he didn't say it. McNorris had no interest in hurting a woman, and certainly not her, so she told him something about herself that she hadn't been keen on sharing until this moment. She figured if they were on common ground it would get him over this handicap. "As long as I'm with someone I trust I like to be dominated on occasion. If this is going to set off your alpha streak it'll be as good for me as it is for you."

He pulled in a quick breath as he watched her out of the corner of his eye. He was putting things together quickly. "The couch?"

She rubbed the short hair at the base of his neck with her nose. "That was good. It would have been better if you had spanked me too." He went rigid and she clarified one point. "But no ropes, cuffs, or chains. If you're going to hold me down or smack me, hands only." She took a small breath. "At least I think it'll be good for me. It used to anyway. I'm not sure if it'll scare me when we start so I might ask you to stop. Okay?"

When he spoke his voice was gruff. "I'll stop if you ask." He paused for half a beat. "It has to hurt."

She dug her fingers into him harder and he hissed. "How bad?"

"Worse." She increased the pressure and he growled deep in his chest. "More." She added more pressure and he gasped. She figured she had found the right amount of pain for him and tucked the information away as she moved on to a different pressure point and dug into him. He let out a snarl at the sensation and she shivered at the noise as her own body reacted to his presence. When she bit his shoulder and dragged her nails down the soft skin over his ribs he snapped.

Reaching over his shoulder he grabbed her arm and tossed her on the mattress next to him. Grabbing at her panties he ripped them as he tore them off of her. She gasped and he grabbed her hip and jerked her under him roughly. She pawed at his boxers and he growled at her before grabbing her thigh and dragging her into position. "Spread your legs." He growled dangerously at her and she did what he said.

The moment she did he thrust inside her and she cried out at the rough entry. Letting go of her thigh he grabbed her wrists and yanked them over her head before he started moving roughly inside of her. She whimpered at him, which only spurred him on. He bit her shoulder as she squirmed and she let out a louder shout as she spiraled up. He took her to the edge quickly before pulling out of her abruptly. She cried out in protest as he left her on edge, but he flipped her onto her stomach. Then he was over her and pushing into her from behind.

Gripping the blankets she whimpered and pressed back into him. He smacked her thigh in response and she began to vibrate. As her whimpers of excitement got louder he got rougher. Grabbing a hunk of her hair he pulled her head back and she let out a small scream as her back arched and drove him as deep inside of her as he could get. He grunted as his hips slammed against hers and she squeezed her eyes shut as she teetered on the edge of what she was sure would be one of the strongest orgasms she had ever experienced. Then David pulled her farther back and clamped his teeth over the base of her neck. It was all she could take. Screaming her release she bucked under him and he pressed as far into her as he could get as he came. He let out his own shout of completion as he pressed flat over her and they shook together.

After a long minute he went limp over her and his fingers loosened their grip on her hair. She slid to her stomach and he fell over her. His ragged breathing filled her ears and all she could feel was her heart pounding in her chest and the aftershocks of her release coursing through her. Her eyes fluttered closed and she made absolutely no objection to having David over her as he softened inside of her. She rather enjoyed the warm weight of him. He must have thought it was less than a good idea to crush her though, because as soon as he had some form of control back he pulled out of her gently and rolled off her.

Laying in a sweaty heap over the blankets she drifted in a pleasant haze. That had been _so_ good. Judging by how vocal David had been she wasn't the only one that had enjoyed herself. Next to her he lay on his back and panted as he tried to regain control of himself. She smirked slightly even as a dull ache took up residence between her legs. But, oh, what a good ache. He certainly could dominate her the way she liked, and she was glad she could still like it. That was something Jason always had a problem with. He was too sweet all the time. Not David. He could turn on the testosterone and take her when he wanted and it had been terribly good for her.

The bed shifted and he turned the light off before tugging the quilt over them. Kissing her shoulder he pulled her back against him. She let him touch her compliantly and he bent his head and bit her shoulder again. Not hard, but enough to see what she would do. She lifted her leg back over his thigh in response. He chuckled into her skin.

"Has it been awhile since someone made you feel wanted?" He thrust into her sharply as he asked the question and she gasped. She didn't think it was possible for him to be ready again this fast. "Since someone made you feel like a woman?" He pulled out and shoved in again. "Since someone took control and made you stop working so much?" Her only answer was a whimper, his response was another hard thrust. He worked her up again, grunting and panting into her ear as she cried out. Then she was tumbling headlong into ecstasy, again. He came right after her and slumped over her back.

"Christ, David."

He panted into her hair as he got comfortable. "You liked that." He stated confidently.

"Yes." She stretched out a bit. "I told you I would." The ache intensified and she muttered slightly as sleep started to roll over her.

"Did I hurt you?"

"In a good way." She sighed out. "So good. You liked it too." His only response was to run his hands over her. She turned her head so she could see his face. "You never let anyone do that to you in bed before have you?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It would have scared Marian. She was… sheltered."

She tilted her head. "She's not the only woman you've slept with."

He sighed. "It's strange."

"No, it's not." She caught his face and kissed him as she spoke. He raised and eyebrow and she shrugged. "Okay, maybe a little. But it isn't that weird, not weirder than what I like."

He rolled her to her back and looked down at her. "It's more than a little weird that pain turns me on. Why doesn't that bother you?"

"You were conditioned to respond to pain. Pain makes you feel closer to people. You can't help it. Why would it bother me?" He sighed and looked away from her. Reaching up she caught his face. "It's not your fault." He tried to shift away from her and she followed him as he rolled to his back. She lay over his chest and looked down at him. "Do you know that?"

"Yes, Darcy." He snapped. "I'm aware that my father beat me for no real reason."

"It was a real reason to you."

"Are we done?"

She continued to gaze down at him. Then she ran her hand over the side of his head. He didn't want to think about this, let alone talk about it. Pushing him about it would be cruel. "If you want us to be." She kissed him gently. Pulling away she gave him a small smile, trying to apologize to him. "Goodnight, David."

When she made to move off him he caught her face with one hand and stopped her. "Why no ropes or chains?"

She froze at the question. Then she answered because he wouldn't leave her alone until she did, and because he deserved to know. "Because my brain didn't process the experience of pain the same way yours did. I never adapted. I don't get anything out of it but pain."

"Just pain?"

"Nightmares too." Her voice was no more than a whisper.

He searched her eyes. "That's why you drink so much caffeine isn't it? You don't even try to sleep do you?"

She thought he wouldn't put that together. She figured if he was going to work it out he would have months and months ago. "Not usually."

He sighed and pulled her down next to him. Then he cuddled her closer which caught her by surprise. McNorris generally didn't initiate snuggling. Not that he ever tried to stop her from cuddling up, or indicate that it bothered him, but he never started it. He started the sex. She wasn't about to protest though, it was nice. "We'll work on that." He kissed her forehead and pulled the blanket over them again. "It might be better to have this discussion when we're rested and dressed though."

"Too exposed right now?"

"Aren't you?"

"A little bit." She admitted.

He kissed her forehead. "Tomorrow then."

She twisted so her head was on his shoulder and nodded in agreement. They lay in the dark cabin and she continued to watch him as their heads rested on the pillow. He watched her right back even though she knew he was tired. He was clearly waiting for her to say whatever it was she was thinking. Gathering herself, she leaned in the few inches separating them and kissed him gently. "I love you."

He jolted slightly before gathering her to him and kissing her again. She could feel some sort of strong emotion rolling off him, but if it was relief, affection, love, or some sort of panic she wasn't sure. Maybe it was all those things at once because those were the things she was feeling at the moment. He tucked her head under his chin and settled his hand on the small of her back. "I love you too."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Eager to get out of the cabin and see the trees, she gulped her scalding coffee and grabbed David's arm when he was half done with his. "Come on!"

"Woman!" Catching her wrist with the same arm she was holding, he spun her to him and caught her when she thumped into his chest. Holding her still, he grumbled before sipping his coffee. "We have the next two days to see them. Let me have my coffee."

"Awww!" She whined and he rolled his eyes even as his lip twitched. "You've seen them before! It's not exciting for you!"

"I promise to be as excited as you want me to be if you let me finish my coffee." She pouted at him and he barked out a laugh despite his interest in being grumpy. "You should try that more. You're adorable with your lip out like that. You could get most anyone to do what you wanted."

She turned her head so it was resting on his shoulder and looked up at him with huge eyes. "David?"

"Not me." She huffed and crossed her arms over the one he was holding her with. Chuckling, he stopped long enough to finish the last of the drink and set the mug on the counter as he bent down and kissed her cheek. "All right. Let's go. You can drag me around the woods all you want."

Brightening, she caught his hand as he let her go and dragged him out of the cabin. He paused long enough to grab a backpack and sling it over his shoulder. She practically skipped down the stairs of the small porch and toward the woods. She saw him shake his head as she bounced to the nearest tree and took the time to pull a map out of the pack as she inspected it. She had found a small one in comparison to some of the others she could see, but the thing was still monstrous. "This is so cool!" She exclaimed.

He smiled at her enthusiasm as he walked up next to her. "Which trail do you want to try?" He held the map so she could see it and she scanned it briefly.

"You know what? It doesn't matter to me at all. Which one do you want to go on?"

He considered their options briefly before deciding. "How about this one? It goes farter up into the mountains."

"Okay." She agreed. "We should bring some water with us."

"I have it under control." He ushered her to the south. "Let's go."

Four hours later she was smiling as she leaned against his chest. It was nice that he thought to bring a blanket for them to sit on along with a map, water, and snacks. Their hike had lead them, after more than a few twists, turns, and bumps, to the small mountain lake they were sitting in front of. Now they were relaxing in the sunshine as David leaned back against one of the giant trees and acted as her backrest. Leaning her head back on his shoulder she looked up, and up, and up the trunk. It was the most amazing thing she'd ever seen. These trees were spectacular.

David let his arm rest loosely around her middle. "Are they as big as you thought they would be?"

"No, they're bigger. It's insane. We're sitting right under one and I'm still unable to comprehend how big it is."

He smiled at her and turned his head up too. "They are impressive."

"Understatement."

His thumb brushed over her fleece shirt in a lazy sort of way. She could only assume he'd found the long sleeved hoodie in the very back of her closet; it was where she kept all her winter clothes. She hadn't seen most of the clothes he packed for her since before she moved. She had them all in a large box; she hadn't gotten rid of anything in case she decided to move again. "It's nice to see you this happy."

"Its nice to be this happy." She said. "Are you happy too?" She wanted him to be, it had been a rough few months, they both needed a break.

"Yes." She smiled and caught his hand under hers. She squeezed it gently as she continued to look up. These trees were amazing. As she marveled at their height he shifted slightly. She didn't pay him any attention until she felt something cool slipping over her finger. Her head came down as her hand twitched at the sensation, and she found a large diamond ring resting on her left hand. Her eyes went wide as she took in the platinum band. It was a gorgeous ring by anyone's standards and the diamond, which was far bigger than she needed, glittered in the noonday sun. When she got over her shock she noticed a plain silver band was on David's finger as well. "You got me a ring?" She asked. The surprised confusion was evident in her voice. For some reason she hadn't expected him to get her a ring unless he knew she was going to stay.

He caught her chin and turned her head so he could kiss her. He was gentle and sweet, and when he pulled away he smiled softly at her. "Do you like it?" She nodded silently and his eyes crinkled around the corners. He pecked her on the lips again and he looked back over the lake. "I picked the right one then." He was satisfied with himself, and she suspected more than a little relieved. Then his anxiety rose up even if he hid it really well. "Will you wear it?"

"Yes, I'll wear it." His body relaxed all over even as she decided on something else. "It's going to take me awhile to sell my condo with the way the housing market is."

He looked down at her in shock. "You're going to sell it?"

"Well, I suppose you could sell your house, but you seem rather adverse to my neighborhood, which I think is pretty unfair even if I did get jumped-" The rest of her bantering was cut off as he kissed her again. Then she found herself on her back over the soft tree fall and yipped as he covered her. He grinned and started kissing her face all over so fast all she could do was laugh. "David!"

He smiled into her skin before lifting his head. Holding her face with one hand he kissed her deeply. "You don't need this." He stated as he tugged at her fleece top.

"What?" She laughed out. "It's freezing!"

"I'll keep you warm." He promised as he began to pull the fabric out of his way.

"This isn't a private park." She said even as she started attacking the fastening on his pants.

He grinned playfully. "We're a mile off the trail. No one is going to see us." His eyes glittered. "And even if they do I'm sure we could call in a favor to get out of jail for public exposure."

"You are such a bad influence." She stated before she caught the back of his head and kissed him. In response he removed her top and trailed his way down her neck. She couldn't believe she was about to have sex out in the middle of the woods, but then he was rubbing himself over her and she stopped worrying about it. This was too much fun to over think.


	28. Relations: Month Twenty

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**28. Relations – Month Twenty**

Slightly frazzled from the last week she shoved her annoyance away and focused on her project. She had managed to sneak out of work early after a meeting and had raced back to David's in order to enact her plan. She could no longer, after practically living here and soon to be moving in, deal with a pink kitchen any longer. She didn't care that it was a rather unobtrusive shade of pink. She didn't care that it pretty much blended with the soft colors his entire house sported. She didn't care that at one point in time, before she ever met him, he lived here with a different woman who she had absolutely nothing against, but had an odd fondness for pastels. She couldn't do it. The pink had to go, along with that one frilly looking chair she had surreptitiously paid the garbage man to take away this morning after David ran off to an emergency meeting.

She was sure Marian had purchased that monstrosity as well, and to be perfectly frank, even if it made her a bad person, she didn't want any of the woman's things in what she now viewed as her territory. The chair could be replaced with one of hers, which were much funkier patterned and would totally match the soon to be newly colored kitchen. She was giddy at the mere thought of the transformation.

Considering McNorris could be deeply disturbed by the oddest and smallest changes, considering how well he accepted their marriage and moved her in the way he had, which she considered a huge change, she hadn't bothered to ask permission. After all, she figured this was now half her house anyway. Their legally binding marriage certificate said it was. So she decided that her half was going to include these four walls if he had a fit about it.

Grinning at the thought of his possible, and most probable outrage, she used a screwdriver to pop the top on one of the three cans of paint she'd purchased and hidden a few days ago. Eyeing the bullfrog green paint with more than a little joy she poured it into a paint pan and picked up a roller, she had already taped all the cabinets and floorboards, and covered the floor with plastic, so she wasn't worried about making a mess. All the windows were open so she wouldn't get loopy from the fumes too. Lifting the roller she attacked the nearest wall with a vengeance.

The meticulous yet simple task let her relax as her mind wandered. Now that she was in comfortable clothes and doing what she wanted to be doing, she could let herself roll over the events of the last week with less agitation. Last weekend had been wonderful, relaxing, and an all around good time. Northern California was clearly the place for her and she had enjoyed the atmosphere and feeling of it as much as her time with McNorris. David had been nothing but good to her the whole time they were there.

She realized after they got back to the cabin from their hike, and tryst in the woods, that he was trying to give her some sort of honeymoon. He knew she'd wanted to come to the redwoods more than anything, knew she only would have saved up the money to go alone if she had really wanted it, so he brought her where she most wanted to be. Her theory over that was confirmed when he'd made love to her, slowly and sweetly, holding their newly ringed hands together as he murmured soft nothings into her ear. When they fell together she had ended up shaking in his arms for reasons unknown to her and he had kissed and cuddled her for the better part of an hour until she was calmed and he was ready again.

On the flip side ghost boy also knew a long weekend wasn't much of a honeymoon. She had no doubt he would have taken her somewhere else, a place he considered upscale and tropical, or to the forest for a much longer period of time, if he was more secure with their admittedly new and slightly unstable relationship. But, being him, he had been afraid she would reject the trip, the ring, and him should he push her at that idea. So he'd done the best he could manage without telling her he was insecure. The man was so freaking complex it made her head hurt sometimes. Heaven forbid he just tell her what he was thinking and feeling, oh no, that was too easy. He'd rather make the whole thing a convolute mess and try to trick her into being happy about this even as he felt guilty about tricking her. He was lucky she got him.

By the time she finished the first wall her thoughts had drifted away from the very pleasant memory of the trip and she moved on to her admittedly turbulent workweek. The first day had actually been fine. Tuesday had breezed by as most of her days at the precinct did. She went in, did her job, and went home, well to David's house at any rate. Wednesday was when the real fun had started. She had been calmly talking to Joel as they went over a case when he stopped talking mid-sentence. Considering she was shuffling through images of the crime scene, and only half listening since they were talking about inconsequential things, she didn't immediately notice he was staring. When she looked up she spotted him peering at her left hand.

For some reason she figured if no one noticed, or commented, on her new wedding ring that first day no one would. Admittedly, that was both naive and severely optimistic. The simple truth was no one noticed the day before, but Joel was definitely eying the new and outrageously expensive ring with a great deal of surprised interest. "Darcy?"

"Yes?" She asked innocently.

"Is that a wedding ring?"

She considered the best way to answer that. "It certainly does look like one." She said agreeably.

Joel cocked his head to the side. "I didn't know you were seeing anyone."

"I-"

The detective grinned when he saw her flush slightly. Considering she rarely showed any emotion other than annoyance or amusement, he was delighted. "Who is he?" His grin grew. "Does McNorris know yet?"

"Yeah, he knows." She wasn't sure how to go about telling him, and realized she should have thought this out. However, her weekend had been too full of good to spend her time worrying about this.

"How'd he take it?" The detective looked like he was torn between laughter and disappointment over the state the attorney must be in. She knew the detective had a soft spot for McNorris, why she wasn't sure, and he was obviously sympathizing that someone had stolen her away from him. It hadn't occurred to him that she had actually married McNorris.

"Pretty well." She said.

"You're serious?" The detective leaned back. "He actually likes this guy? Who is he?"

"He's-"

She was cut off again when McNorris walked in. He nodded at the detective. "Joel." Then he set his briefcase down and popped it open. "I'm glad you're here. We need to talk about the Drake case. Where's Fearless?"

Joel opened his mouth to answer when he spotted a flash of silver on David's left hand. His mouth clicked shut and the detective's eyes snapped to hers. Then he rubbed his temples when he put it together. "No." He groaned.

David raised an eyebrow in confusion and she wiggled her left hand so he could see the ring. He looked down at his own hand and shrugged without interest in Joel's reaction. "Where's Fearless?"

Joel shook his head with a soulful sigh. "Ray's going to have an aneurism." That only made David's day brighter. He smirked as he began to dig out his notes. With a sigh, the detective stood up. "I need coffee before I can process anymore."

"Bring your partner back with you." Ghost boy called after him.

Joel's only response was a shake of his head. After that word had spread pretty fast. About half the department didn't care, a quarter figured it wasn't surprising but were disturbed by her choice in men, and the last quarter had… more volatile reactions. Ray had cornered her in the elevator and flat out told her she was an idiot and he was more than willing to save her from herself. She told him he could mind his own business at which point he had tried to turn into the concerned uncle and or brother. She had shaken her head and left the metal box before he could annoy her to the point of her getting mean.

Fearless had shot her a worried look and she told him to relax because she could take care of herself. Joel simply told her if she had a problem he had a shovel and place to hide a body. Her lip had twitched up at his acceptance of her insanity and she told him she had her own shovel, but she'd call him if she needed help with any heavy lifting. Hicks had made her sign paperwork about transferring her insurance, updating her emergency contact, and set her up a meeting with HR to be sure no one could sue them in some strange way because of this. Then he told her he didn't want her marriage to get in the way of her job and if it did he would find a new psychologist. She had shrugged without worry and signed his paperwork.

Needless to say, her week had not been smooth sailing. She finished off the last wall with ease and waited for the paint to dry before applying another coat. She realized the paint was such a deep color that it would only need two coats instead of the three she had originally anticipated, and wondered if she should use the left over paint in the spare bathroom, or on one of the living room walls. There was no reason she couldn't color coordinate the house after all. Feeling oddly content over making this space feel more like it was hers, she started up on the first wall with her second coat, figuring it had enough time to dry.

When this was done she needed to go back to her condo and work out what was coming here and what was going to be gotten rid of. She couldn't move all her things over here, or David couldn't keep all his stuff, and they were going to have to decide on that. She figured she might be able to replace his dishes with hers, seeing as she already took over the kitchen with the paint, but would rather have his bedroom furniture. She had bought a rather cheep set when she got here and saw no reason to keep it when his was new, barley a year old, and expensive. She liked the dark wood he picked out even if it wasn't what she would usually go for. For some reason the heavy furniture suited him and the house. It made her feel comfortable, the way he made her feel comfortable, so that was an easy one. Figuring out what to do with her desk and abundance of bookshelves was not.

She contemplated that more deeply as she finished the wall off. She was still thinking about it as she touched up the odd corners and around the wall sockets with a small paintbrush. When she was done she stepped back and admired her work. It may have taken her a good two hours to complete, but she was delighted with the results. The dark wooden cabinets stood out nicely against the now deep green walls and the whole kitchen seemed to have transformed to a more hospitable, and less stuck up place. Bouncing happily she dove into a bag she had sitting on the counter and pulled out the final touch. She had to wait to take off the tape and put the flat panels around the wall sockets until the paint dried, and she was going to use that time to replace all the handles on the cabinets.

A few weeks ago she had spotted some hand crafted handles at a little boutique slash home store she sometimes wandered into when she was looking for shoes or a blouse. They had caught her interest at once, their color and shape appealing to her sense of style, and this whole project had sprung to mind. She had bought the bunch of them without a thought. Admittedly, the project had originally been geared to her own condo, but since ghost boy asked her to move in, and she abhorred his kitchen, she had simply transferred the thought to his house, which was now also her house. An hour after she pulled the first handle out of the bag she was done with everything.

Glancing at the clock on the microwave she realized she finished with thirty-two minutes to spare before David got back and congratulated herself. Moving quickly, she stored the rest of the paint in the garage and cleaned off the brush, roller, and pan before storing them with the paint. Then she found a small fan and set it on the table to help get rid of the lingering smell of the fumes before letting out a satisfied sigh. She was washing the paint off her hands when someone knocked at the door. Drying her hands, she stopped long enough to grab the covering off the floor and chuck them in the trash can, since they were covered in paint, before going to answer the knock.

"Coming!" Looking out the peephole she frowned. There was a strange man in his seventies looking out toward the car she bought David, which now had a new coat of paint and half an engine. She had never seen him before and her deep-seated paranoia rose up at once. Opening the drawer in the small table next to the door she held her gun in one hand before turning back. Her gun, or one of them at any rate, had been moved here the second week she'd slept over. For some reason McNorris didn't own a firearm. She told him flat out she couldn't stay here without one and he didn't argue the point. He let her put one in the dresser next to the bed and another next to the door. When he saw how much more relaxed that made her she knew he was happy he hadn't argued or questioned it.

Unlocking the door, she kept the chain in place as she spoke to the man. "Can I help you?"

He looked her over critically, noticing her headband, old clothing, and the paint stains she was now sporting. "I'm looking for David."

She cocked her head, pretending innocence and gripping the gun more tightly. The last thing she needed was some crook or criminal he threw in jail stalking him to his house. "I'm sorry, David isn't here."

"Where is he?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"I came in to see him. We need to talk."

She turned the safety off on the gun; she wasn't having any of this. "Who are you? I'll tell him you stopped by."

"His father. Who are you?"

That answer threw her but she flipped the safety on the gun again. She figured, as much as McNorris hated his father, he wouldn't want her to shoot him. "Can I see your ID?"

"Excuse me?" He demanded more than asked.

"Your driver's license." She said, undeterred by his defensiveness.

He was more than annoyed. "No."

"Okay then." She started to shut the door. If he couldn't prove he was related to David then he could fuck off. On second thought, with what she knew about David's father, he could go ahead and fuck off anyway. "In that case you have one minute to get off this property or I'm calling the police."

"The police?"

"Yeah, I know them and you're trespassing. Bye."

He must have seen that she was serious because he spoke before she could shut the door in his face. "Wait." He shook his head and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. Opening the worn billfold he held it up to the slightly open door impatiently. She read it quickly and decided this was spectacular in every way she could imagine. "Can I come in now? Or would you like a blood sample?" She didn't miss the sarcasm.

"That's sweet of you, but no thanks." Moving back she shut the door and stashed the gun quickly before he could see it. Then she unchained the door and held it open. "Please come in." He shot her a grumpy look that reminded her of David. She simply looked back at him. She had learned enough about this man to already dislike him. That didn't mean she couldn't be civil. "I'm sorry about the mess. I wasn't expecting company. Would you like something to drink?"

His eyes were sweeping over the place. He was taking everything in quickly, noticing what to him, must have been quite a few changes. From what she understood he hadn't been to see his son since right after Marian moved out several years ago. Now her things were scattered about and she knew David had replaced all the things his ex-wife had taken in the divorce, which was pretty much everything except that chair she'd gotten rid of earlier. "Who are you?" He asked.

She held her hand out as she smiled. "Darcy. Nice to meet you." He shook her hand with a blank look and she realized David had told his family nothing about her. It didn't bother her. She hadn't told hers anything about him either, although, she supposed, the circumstance were slightly different for her than ghost boy. But whatever, she wasn't going to hold it against him. McNorris certainly hadn't expected his father to be dropping by. He would have told her, or at least warned her not to answer the door. She waved the man toward the kitchen. It might smell like paint but she could get him a drink and food in there. "David tells me you live in Manchester?"

"Yes." The man was getting suspicious of her presence and the information she had about him, as well as the ease with which she was moving through the house.

"Would you like water, sweet tea, or a soda? I have Pepsi."

"Anything stronger?"

Absolutely not in this house. She was amazed he would ask that question with David the way he was and then realized he either didn't know his son was sober or didn't care enough to remember. "Nope."

He tapped his fingers on the tabletop. "Pepsi."

She smiled politely and got him a glass full of ice. She set it down then handed him a soda. Sitting down across from him she picked her cell phone up and began to text as she spoke to him. "David's in a meeting until five but I'll let him know you're here." She finished the short message and sent it. "What brings you to town, Mr. McNorris?"

"I came to see my son." His eyes darted around the room as he took in the new paint and displaced items on the counter.

"I figured since you showed up at the door. Any particular reason or just to visit?"

"Are you the maid?"

She started to laugh softly. "No, I'm not." Her PDA beeped and she picked it up, still smiling. Admittedly, she wasn't at her best in an old t-shirt and a pair of jeans with a hole over one knee. She didn't blame him for the assumption. She was sure in his mind his bachelor son, who was a well off lawyer, could and would hire a maid to take care of his house. She read the message quickly. "David says he'll meet us in twenty minutes." She looked back at his father as she fought for his first name, knowing David had told her at some point. "Where would you like to have dinner? There's a great Italian place down the road. Or we could have Greek if that sounds better to you."

He leaned back and she could tell he was assessing her. "Are you David's new girlfriend?"

Jack. The name sprang to mind even as she answered him without hesitation or remorse. "No, I'm his wife." Silence. It stretched for nearly a full minute as he stared at her. She just let him, never breaking eye contact or shying away from the intensity of his gaze. She now had no doubt that he and David were genetically related. They had the same stare, the exact same eyes, although her husbands were considerably warmer than the icy ones his father sported. Even now, with him surprised but not angry, she could feel the hidden hostility in him. It was… unpleasant.

Finally, he spoke. "You're married to my son?"

"I am." She continued to smile. "So Italian or Greek?"

"Italian." He finally responded.

"Oh good. I was hoping you would say that." She stood up. "I'll go get changed. Do you need anything or will you be all right for about ten minutes? I'm really sorry about the smell. I just finished painting." She glanced around before returning her attention to him, trying to be nice and inviting. "You think David will like it?"

She could see him fighting back a snappy retort over either the color or her link to his son. She wondered why he was holding his tongue. She thought it was because she'd caught him off guard and he was trying to regain his balance. She had a strong hunch that Jack liked to have the upper hand in all his relationships. "I'm fine."

"Okay." She stayed cheerful. "I'll be right back."

She retreated and closed their bedroom door. Picking out an outfit quickly she texted David again, then began to get ready at light speed. She was aiming to impress and the restaurant they were going to wasn't exactly low class. She picked out her navy blue cocktail dress, David had replaced the white one for no reason she could understand, and tossed it on the bed before retreating to the bathroom. She had her makeup on and hair up in six minutes. Then she slipped into her dress. It was a lovely shade of navy blue and the top was lace and silk. It was elegant and covered her back. It had been a good find by him and she wondered where he kept finding these things for her to wear, or when he had the time to get them. It was so hard for her to find a dress like this that she hadn't felt guilty about him gifting it to her. Besides, the man was hooked on giving her presents. There was no point in fighting it when she knew he enjoyed doing it in that silent sort of way he had.

She got out a pair of silver heels and her matching purse. Throwing all her necessities in the small handbag she picked up the clutch and walked back to the kitchen after securing some jewelry. Jack was looking out the window at the backyard when she reappeared. "Are you ready? We should get there at about the same time if we leave now."

He turned around and his eyes flicked over her. She could tell he was more impressed with her now. She wasn't surprised. She looked the part of a beautiful young wife now instead of a grubby and low paid worker, the kind of woman he imagined his son should have. A pretty thing to hang on his arm and show off at social functions, one that could smile without opening her mouth. She was sure the next few hours were going to contain more unpleasant surprises for this man. "Yes."

She smiled demurely, doing her best to appear easy to deal with and eager to please. She had no interest in causing a scene or making trouble even if she saw that as an inevitability. She was sure this was going to be hard enough for David to deal with without her making trouble. They walked out after she closed the windows and locked the doors, and he got into her car without a fight. She started up some small talk, asking about his wife and other children. He was relaxed, if still thrown, in less than two minutes. By the time they got to the restaurant she was sure he thought he had her all worked out. Maybe David got his brain from his mother, or it was just a freak genetic happenstance. Then again, maybe she was underestimating this man. She went back on guard, that was the last thing she wanted to do, to leave herself vulnerable when she needed to be alert.

She was silently relieved, then worried, when she spotted David's car already in the lot. Keeping up the easy conversation they walked to the door. A young man in a uniform opened it for them and she smiled her thanks as they walked in. David was standing at the front of the restaurant waiting for them. He was taut and on edge, and she did her best not to respond to his cues. There was no reason for her to be upset about this. One of them needed to be calm.

He smiled a fake sort of smile at them as they approached. "Dad, this is a nice surprise." They shook hands briefly, no hugging she noted, and then David leaned in and kissed her cheek chastely in greeting. "You should have called ahead. We would have had everything ready for you."

"I'm not staying long. I'm heading to Salt Lake tomorrow. There was a layover in LAX so I thought I'd stop in."

The hostess stepped in and led them to a table in the back. David pulled out her chair and she sat down as gracefully as she could. His father took all this in as he settled himself and David picked the conversation back up. "You're going to see Mary?"

"Yes." He said without further explanation.

That seemed to bother David because went stiff all over. Reaching to him under the table she squeezed his hand. He spoke calmly despite his mood. "That's nice. Are you going to surprise her too?"

His father smiled. "I haven't seen your sister in a while. I want to see my grandbabies before I get too old to travel."

Considering he hadn't said no to that being a surprise, and knowing ghost boy adored his little sister since he had told her he did and she was the only person in his family he actually talked about, she knew he didn't like the idea of his father dropping into her life. She was sure Mary hadn't gotten out of her childhood home without any bruising and she was equally sure that enraged David. "I hope you got them presents." Ghost boy said with a smile, playing the good son.

"Of course I got them presents." For a brief moment Jack thawed. "Even if your sister is fussy about what they can have. I brought them educational things." He waved his hand. "Your mother picked everything out. Honestly, I don't see why they can't just have toys like normal kids."

David shifted slightly. "You know Lila can't have anything she could hurt herself with."

Jack rolled his eyes and she knew she was missing something. Her eyes were darting between them as she kept quiet. "There's nothing wrong with that girl."

"She's severely autistic." David responded. "Anything too loud scares her. She can't handle the sensory overload."

"Don't start on that. All it does is encourage your sister. There's nothing wrong with that girl but she's being babied."

She cut in smoothly as David's eyes flashed in rage. She didn't want him going off like a volcano in the restaurant and she simply didn't have the time to wonder why McNorris never told her he had an autistic niece, or any niece for that matter. But with three brothers and two sisters she didn't know how she could assume he wasn't an uncle. "Psychological disorders aren't excuses, Jack, they're medical conditions."

He glanced at her. "Are you a doctor?"

She could tell he thought she was some pretty floozy David had picked up. She knew before she answered that he probably would have preferred that. "Yes, I am."

She startled him again and she knew he didn't like that in the slightest. "Darcy is a clinical psychologist." David told him, a note of pride in his voice.

"A shrink?" Jack huffed and she raised an eyebrow as David puffed up at the condescending tone.

"That's one term." She agreed. "I prefer the more educated and clinically correct term of psychotherapist."

The older man was on his toes with her now. "What do you do? Council lunatics?"

She never blinked as she stared him down. "No, I profile and interview criminals. My specialty is with psychopaths and serial killers, although I've had rather good results with terrorists, sadists, and child abusers."

David squeezed her hand under the table in warning. His father either didn't get the jibe or chose to ignore it. Instead of getting angry, he chuckled. "You're certainly more of a spitfire than Marian."

She gave him points for trying to bring David's ex-wife into this. The older man was trying to rile her up so he could put her in her place. The thing was she had nothing against the other woman. However, she could feel David coiling up, knowing he was ready to defend her. She pushed on before he could do anything. "Marian is a lovely woman. She has the patience of a saint and works very hard to be sure everyone is happy and comfortable." She paused for half a beat. "We have very little in common."

Jack's eyes flashed and David broke in before that could go any farther, sensing her gearing up for a fight and knowing she would enjoy it. "How are mom and Paul?"

"Fine." David's father dismissed her and turned to his son as he told him about his older brother. "Paul is expanding his shop and your mother is doing some sort of book club with her friends."

"Paul has that much business?"

"He does now that he moved."

The waitress came by and took their drink orders. When she left David continued. "I didn't know he'd moved."

"You might if you ever called home."

David sent him a careless smile. "Where'd he move to?"

"Outskirts of Boston. He's close to the main business district. Has all the high-flying office executives coming to them. You would think grown men would be able to fix their own cars."

"If they did Paul would be out of work." David pointed out.

"True." The waitress returned with their drinks and she wished she was comfortable enough to have alcohol. She had decided that would be a bad idea all around though, hadn't had a drink at all since she'd started seeing ghost boy, so she stuck to ice tea. David was drinking water and his father had something on tap. She hadn't been paying much attention. "Not going to drink with your old man?"

"I don't drink anymore."

His father scoffed. "I don't want to hear about this alcoholic business anymore."

"Then we won't talk about it." She cut in agreeably, thinking it might be best to stay with David and his plan to avoid a fight. She chose a safe subject. "I've never been to Boston. What's it like?" Apparently that was a good topic to dive into because it kept Jack talking for the better part of their meal. She noticed David didn't eat much and she did her best to keep the peace. It was all she could think to do.

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David was yanking at his tie with sharp, aggressive tugs. Stepping up to him she took hold of the knot and began to loosen it. His jaw clenched, but he let her help him. When it was undone she kissed his jaw softly. She spoke quietly to him, not wanting the conversation to make it past the doors to the spare bedroom where his father was hopefully already asleep. "Relax, David." He nodded sharply and she moved into his space. When she was against him she tucked her head under his jaw and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He was stiff for a long moment before his arms came up to encircle her. His hand came up and began to stroke over her hair. "You look beautiful tonight."

She kissed the side of his neck. "Thank you."

He continued to touch her but she could tell that was all he was going to do to her with his father in the house. Lifting her head, she reached up and cupped his face. "Let's go to bed. I know this has been a long day for you." He nodded, his mind a million miles away. Trying to bring him back she kissed him chastely on the lips. "It's okay, David. Tonight was fine and nothing bad happened. He'll leave tomorrow and we can go back to our normal lives, as normal as our lives ever are at any rate."

He looked at her for a moment. "My father upsets me." He told her unnecessarily; still, she appreciated the honesty as well as his willingness to share that out loud.

"I know he does." She rubbed his shoulder. "But he's here and right now you have to deal with him and everything that comes with him." She shrugged. "Or you can kick him out. What do you want to do?"

"Kicking him out would go over so well." He said sarcastically.

She met his eyes. "This is about you. You need to make this relationship about you. It's been about him for a long time, too long. You need to decide how you want to deal with this from here on out. What do you want us to do?"

He sighed. "Let's just get through this."

"Okay." She kissed him again. "Then I'm going to get in the shower. Meet back here in fifteen minutes?" He smiled slightly and let her go before giving her a gentle push toward the bathroom. She took a step forward and then stopped. "Will you unzip me?"

He moved to her and released her from the dress before kissing the back of her neck. "There you go."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, baby doll." He turned away and started to unbutton his shirt cuffs. She closed the door and started to undress. A few minutes later and she was clean and warm. Wrapping herself in a towel she brushed her hair out. When she came out David was pacing in front of the window, still dressed. She pulled out a long t-shirt and a pair of panties and slipped them on, then she went to him and grabbed his hand.

"Come on."

"I'm not tired."

"You don't have to sleep." She pulled him insistently. "I'll give you a massage."

"You don't have to do that." She recalled saying the same thing to him so many months ago and her lips quirked up.

"I know, but I'm awesome, so I will."

He finally smiled, even if it was a small one. He laid out on the bed after slipping out of his shirt and shoes and she crawled over him so she was straddling his hips. She started at his shoulders and he let out a long breath. As she worked on him she knew he was stressed. The more he was the tighter he got, and unlike her his entire body clenched up, not just his back. Right now he was like a piano wire. It took her nearly thirty minutes just to get him to loosen up to a reasonable place. Once she got him there she started to target his pressure points in an attempt to get him to sleep. If she hit those with just the right amount of pressure, nearly enough to make him hurt but just shy of it, it would help throw him toward dreamland. She continued on for she didn't know how long when he reached back and caught her.

He tugged at her arm and she slid next to him on the bed. Twisting about, he turned off the light and then tugged the blanket over them. Cupping her face he kissed her sweetly. "Thank you."

"I wasn't done."

"An hour long back rub is more than I deserve. I feel much better."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I just want to curl up with you."

"Okay. I love you." It wasn't often she said that out loud to him, but she knew he needed to hear it. She kissed him gently and turned over so he could spoon up around her. His arm wrapped over her middle and she sighed contentedly at him and relaxed. He kissed the back of her neck then went still. She lay there with him for another hour or so before she knew he was asleep. Once he was she let herself go and was out in seconds, she'd needed to be sure he was going to actually rest before she could.

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Late the next morning David came in and practically collapsed on the sofa. She brought him a bottle of water from the kitchen where she'd been unpacking her dishes, which she went to get when he was dropping Jack off at the airport, and sat down next to him. He took it with a thank you and broke the seal with a sharp snap. "You all right, David?"

"Yes." He took a drink and looked at her. "My father doesn't like you."

"I kinda figured." She didn't know how to feel about that. "I'm sorry."

He huffed. "Don't be. That gives me hope for the future of our relationship."

She sent him a wiry smile. "You? Feeling optimism? No way."

"Smart ass." He muttered as he took another drink of water. "Thank you for keeping that to a minimum the last few hours. I know it was hard for you."

"You're welcome." She moved to him, sensing weakness. David might be a snarking ass sometimes, but she thought he needed some affection. Lifting his arm she scooted under it and leaned into his side. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and leaned down so he could kiss her head. In response she pulled her legs up and leaned fully into him. "And it was. I have all this built up sarcasm waiting to burst forth."

He chuckled in amusement and leaned into the couch cushions as he stretched his legs out. "I called to warn my sister he was coming. I think Mary is going to send Lila off with one of her friends until he leaves. I told her that was a good idea." She had a feeling more than that had passed between him and his little sister than just getting his niece elsewhere, but refrained from asking, knowing that there were some things that he wasn't going to share with her and accepting that.

"You're getting brave in your old age."

He sighed without humor as he closed his eyes, exhausted. "I can stand up to an old man. How brave of me."

She stretched and rubbed herself against his side. "He isn't an old man. He's a fundamental archetype in your subconscious."

"Don't start the psycho babble with me." She smiled wickedly and he glared at her with one open eye. "I mean it. Not today."

"You're no fun." With that she twisted and straddled his lap. "If I can't tease you can I at least make out with you?"

His eyes opened and he eyed her appreciatively. "I suppose that would be all right." Leaning in she kissed him and his hands settled on her hips. He hummed into her mouth and she rocked her hips slowly. Pulling away from her mouth he kissed her jaw as she started to loosen his belt. As she got it unhooked he turned his head slightly, distracted from her suddenly. "Do you smell something?"

She tried to appear totally innocent. He had never made it into the kitchen with his father here. He was so distracted by him that yesterday he hadn't even noticed that something was off in the house. Bending her head she nuzzled at his throat as she unbuttoned his shirt. "I don't smell anything."

He grunted and his hands loosened as his head turned farther away from her. "I do." He tried to get her off him, lifting her away. "It smells like paint."

"Paint?"

He muttered something she didn't catch and she found herself alone on the couch. She grumbled at the abandonment even as her eyes darted toward all the exits from the room. He looked into the hall toward the rest of the house first, and when he crossed the room and headed toward the space she had redone she crept off the couch and headed toward their room. She heard him stop when he was in the doorway of the kitchen and then go still. There was a brief pause before he spoke. "_Green?_ You painted my kitchen _green_?" He demanded in an outraged cry that sounded very close to a wail.

Torn between laughter, mischief, and triumph, she grinned even as she backed farther toward the hall. "It's my kitchen now! I call dibbs!" She told him as she put space between them.

He leaned back so he could see her from where he was. They were now across the large living room and he glared at her in a put upon way. "You can't call dibbs on a room!"

"Yes, I can. I just did." She responded smugly.

He rolled his eyes before returning his attention to the kitchen. After several long moments of study he sighed. "I definitely get to see you naked for this."

"Just like that you think you get to see me naked?"

"My kitchen is _green_, Darcy! And-" He waved at the room. "-what happened to my cabinets?"

"I made them pretty." She answered perkily. "And they're _my_ cabinets. I called dibbs."

"Well if we're just calling dibbs on things I claim the walk in closet."

She sent him a falsely horrified look; pleased this was distracting him from the last fifteen hours. "What?"

"You heard me. Tomorrow I'm going to brick off the entrance and you can see how this feels." That had her giggling since she knew he would never do that. "You think that's funny?" Her continued laughter answered that and he started toward her. "That's it. Come here."

With a yelp she took off toward their room but he caught her five feet from the door and swung her up over his shoulder. She snickered as he took her to the bed. "I love you." She said sweetly.

"That isn't getting you out of trouble. I'm getting you naked, and tomorrow I'm bricking up the closet." He tossed her on the bed and she grabbed him, pulling him over her.

"Can we compromise?" She asked with good humor.

He nipped at her shoulder as he pawed at her pants. "You have three seconds to sway me."

"You get me naked, I do naughty things to you, and we forget the bricks."

"What kind of naughty things?" He asked.

She thought quickly. Raising her head she whispered into his ear. He paused in his attempt to get her pants off and she felt him go rigid as she got very detailed, very fast. When she finished telling him, and began sucking on his earlobe, he groaned out. "Deal." With a satisfied smile she let him get her clothes off. She knew his reaction to the paint would be fun even if he had found it later than she had anticipated.


	29. Disclosure: Month TwentyTwo

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**29. Disclosure – Month Twenty-Two**

She laughed happily as McNorris grabbed her and spun her around in the warm water. He grinned and let her go. She glided back in the large pool and dunked under the water. When she came up she pushed her soaked hair out of her eyes and looked around the large yard. "Man, McNorris, we need to housesit more often."

"What do you mean we? I'm not part of this venture. I'm only here because you kidnapped me before I could even get out of the garage. If you ask me I think we should graffiti the place."

She rolled her eyes. "You are not going to graffiti Michael's house. You're especially not going to graffiti it since we're using his pool. That's just rude."

David smirked at her as he backstroked. "What I want to know is how he can afford this place."

She glanced around as her lip twitched. Hirsh really did have a beautiful home. It was halfway up one of the mountains on the outskirts of the city. The house was three stories, spacious, and really well decorated. Out back, surrounded by tall, cream colored walls, was a giant patio surrounding a heated pool. Honestly, the place was a California dream home. It made their house look like a shack in the woods. Hell, their home would fit in one floor of this place.

When Michael asked if she would watch his house for a week while he was away at a conference, she hadn't anticipated finding this when she followed the directions he gave her. When she spotted the pool she had squealed, thank goodness she was by herself because ghost boy would have made fun of her if he'd heard, but she hadn't gone swimming in so long that it tickled her pink. David couldn't figure out why she was so giddy when she got home, but when she shoved him in her car the next day and brought him he wasn't. When he spotted the delight in her eyes as she gazed out at the pool he had pushed her, along with the backpack containing their bathing suits, into the nearest empty room so she could change. She had been in the water two minutes later and he had followed her soon after. They had been playing in the water for the better part of two hours as the sun faded away behind the mountains.

"Oh, David, I'm disappointed. That isn't even a hard one." She spun around in the water, thrilled with the feeling of it flowing over her skin. Even now, after all this time, she couldn't bring herself to go to the beach. For her this private pool was heaven. She could swim, and splash, and play without worrying about anyone staring at her. She hummed happily as she flipped to her back and gazed up at the stars.

"Explain."

"Michael's from money." She told him without hesitation. She had spotted that long before she'd seen the house, although she hadn't expected it to be this nice. Michael went to school for a long time, good schools, ivy league schools. Two types of people could do that, people with money, and people that were willing to go into debt. Michael was old enough to be out of debt by this point in his life but there were other signs. The way he talked, the way he dressed, the way he acted around people. All of it told her he grew up in high society and on the east coast, although he did hide it well. She wondered why he cared if people knew it. Maybe he simply thought most of his clientele would be intimidated, or maybe he wanted to fit in with a different group of people then the ones he grew up with. Either scenario would make sense with his personality. Even so, he couldn't hide who he was from her. She'd worked it out by their second encounter.

The attorney grunted. "I knew I didn't like him for a reason."

She rolled her eyes, figuring you could take the attorney out of the alley but you couldn't take the alley out of the attorney, and answered sarcastically. "Yes, what a stuck up snob Michael is, what with his helping people and all. Horrible person."

"I knew one day you would agree with me." She splashed water at him and he chuckled as he brushed it away. "Since you're being a crystal ball for me tonight did he inherit it all or is he a trust fund baby?"

"Both." She replied. "It's really too bad. I know he's lonely. He must miss whoever left him the money."

"You feel _bad_? Did you look at this house or just do a diving leap into the pool?"

"What's the point of having a place like this if you're here by yourself?" A lot of her joy faded away. "Hell, I had a one bedroom condo that echoed. I'd hate to be here all alone."

David swam over to her and tugged her toward shallower water. "I love that brain of yours but sometimes you do miss things. Michael is perfectly capable of getting a woman. I've seen him charm them more than once. He likes tall brunettes. He was after you for awhile."

"He what?" That caught her off balance. "I'm not tall."

David snorted as he put her against a wall and kissed her. "You're tall enough. He was sniffing around you for months before you got him to help us on that case."

She frowned as put his arms on the side of the pool, encircling her, as he got comfortable. "He never hit on me."

"I'm disappointed, Darcy. I thought you were a profiler? Think a little harder. Would Hirsch ever openly flirt with you? That's not how he operates. He plays a different version of the game than I do."

"You mean he's a gentleman?"

McNorris shot her a grin. "I'd think about that a little harder before you start insulting me. We are married now, so who's really the bad one? Me for being a pig or you for falling for it?" She huffed at him for that and his grin grew. "Back on point."

"This is silly. Even if he was flirting, and I don't think he was, he never asked me out."

"He would have if he hadn't found out you were a widow."

"What?"

"You want to know why I really don't like Hirsch?"

"You mean it isn't that he can beat you in the courtroom?" The question was part sarcastic and part interest.

"I can't say that endears me to him, but that's not why."

"Why then?"

"It's because he tries to fix people."

"He's a psychiatrist." She said dryly. "His job is to fix people."

"I don't mean the people he works with. He tries to fix everybody he comes in contact with. I've seen him with woman after woman and he's never happy because he can't find one that lives up to the shinning dream he has in his head. He wants perfection, some ideal partner that he won't ever get, and whenever someone doesn't muster up, and he can't get them to work right, he drops them and goes looking again."

"He's a romantic-"

"He's delusional." David cut in. "Nobody is perfect. He's never going to meet someone that's perfect. He was after you because you were smart, educated, and funny. For a while you were looking like a prime prospect, then you said you were a widow and the whole thing fell out from under him. Perfect people meet and fall in love and that's the end of it. A perfect partner would never have been married before, they would never have emotional baggage, and they certainly wouldn't have any sort of history. He doesn't want a woman that thinks about someone they lost with any kind of affection or fondness. A perfect partner would only think about him no matter what the situation might be. He makes himself miserable and alone, and expects some sort of sympathy for his martyrdom, as if the world is making him be by himself. That's why I don't like him, there's no room for error."

She was quiet as she thought about that. She liked Michael, had never thrown such a critical thought his way, and even if she didn't agree with David she could see where he was coming from. Especially if Michael had hit one of ghost boy's buttons. "Did he try to fix you?"

"Of course he did. I didn't take very well to that as you can imagine. He lacks your subtle charms." Her lip twitched once before it faded. David continued. "I knew why I was screwed up and I certainly didn't need him to tell me. But when he decided that you should be his new project I really had to put my foot down."

"What?" Her voice turned sharp.

"Ah, I see that bothers you and I doubt it's because I got involved."

"He said he wanted to fix me?" She felt her temper rising at that thought.

"Not in those exact words, but yes." Her eyes flashed angrily and she saw the attorney getting smug. "I told him to leave you the fuck alone. You were on edge after you saw someone kill themselves, more than you normally are, and I didn't want you to snap. I figured, rightly I think, that if you needed help you would ask for it." True that. David shrugged. "He backed off after our chat. Better for him that way. You might have killed him with the way your temper swings about if you caught him."

"Hey!"

He smiled and kissed her quickly, negating any sting that might have had. "Don't worry, baby doll, I like that you're a little crazy and I certainly don't expect you to be perfect." That was good since she wasn't even close to that goal. He sensed her thoughts moving and watched her as she sorted through what he'd said.

After a moment she shrugged. "I still like Michael."

He huffed. "You're only saying that to annoy me."

"Absolutely, this is all about you. I spend my days working out new ways to aggravate you."

"I knew it." He smirked at her sarcasm and kissed her warmly. A moment later and her back was pressed fully into the wall of the pool and his arms had slipped down into the water and ran over her skin. A shiver of delight passed through her. The last week with David had been very… physical. After his father had left he had gone distant on her.

Everyday for three weeks he had gone to Sharkies to work off his energy and emotions and came home with bruises and most of his rage under control. Considering he usually only went to the gym two or three times a week it was a pretty dramatic indication that he was upset, and since it was a healthy way to blow off steam she didn't say anything. However, his workouts had been so intense that he simply didn't have the energy to deal with anything else. He had holed up in his home office, or with a book, nearly ignoring her but not quite, and she had decided leaving him alone might be the best idea. She understood that the emotional toll his father took on him was extreme, and after the first face-to-face encounter with him in about three years it was going to cause a severe reaction. But when he wasn't much better the second week his anxiety had somehow crept into her.

Normally she wouldn't have been so affected, but she had knowingly emotionally invested herself in this relationship. While she wasn't taking his detachment from her personally, it was still bothering her. She had gotten used to being part of his day and his life, and when he pulled away it upset her. Her running, which usually only happened after her nightmares, started to become a daily occurrence. While David went to the gym she went for a run, a long one. The third week of his mood he realized what was happening. She had started to collapse in their bed before he got home and he noticed the mud she was tracking in along with her loss of appetite and general exhaustion.

When he came home straight after work after twenty straight days of going to the gym first he had surprised her. She was already in her work out clothes, and was searching for her sneakers when he walked in. She didn't get a chance to say anything before he picked her up and started toward their room. "No more running."

"I was-"

"I know what you were doing." He set her on the bed and kissed her. "I'm sorry I've been like this."

"It's okay." She said. "I get it."

"I know you do." He kissed her again as he crouched down beside her. "What I don't understand is why you didn't say something. When I get moody you always knock me out of it with that mouth of yours. Why didn't you?"

"I didn't want to get in a fight."

He frowned. "Why would this have caused a fight?"

She sighed. "Ghost boy, you're not generally wound up this tight. I wanted you to work your way down before I messed with you."

He studied her intently. "I haven't been very good to you the last few weeks have I?"

She reached out and set her hands on his shoulders before leaning in and kissing him. "Don't be ridiculous, you needed to get your head back on right. That's fine."

"It's not fine." He kissed her gently, coaxing her mouth open. After a minute he pulled back a bit. "Let me make it up to you."

"You don't have to make anything up to me." She whispered as he began to pull her socks off. "I just missed you. Do you feel better now?"

"I feel better." He assured her before moving. He straightened up and put them both fully onto the bed. After that assurance he had made her feel better too. They had barely slept that night, and after so many nights without release she had been more than a little forward with him. He hadn't hesitated to give her everything she wanted, and the next day he had come home from work with a present for her. She had flat out told him he didn't need to do that, that she didn't expect him to buy her things all the time no matter how sweet that was, thinking he might not know that, and he had smiled and kissed her before putting the bracelet on her wrist. Then he told her he liked to spoil her and she had muttered about not being spoiled. He had found that hilarious and kissed her thoroughly before taking her out to dinner. After that it was like they had just started to sleep together again. They couldn't seem to stop touching one another and hadn't gone more than twelve hours at a time without loosing all their clothes.

Needless to say, finding herself without her top in the pool wasn't much of a surprise. As he tossed the top to the patio she hooked one of her legs over his hips. "How is it you are constantly getting me out of my clothes in inappropriate places?"

"It's my animal magnetism." She laughed at that and he grinned as he rubbed against her. "And you like the thrill, don't pretend you don't."

"Maybe a little bit." She agreed as she ran her hands over his chest.

"And you're curious. You like new things."

"David, I hate to break your heart on this one, but I've had sex in a pool before."

He wasn't overly concerned with this bit of information. "Not with me you haven't." He reached down and slipped the second half of her suit off. She helped him out of his and then he reached down and pulled both her legs around his hips. You had to love buoyancy. He slipped inside her a moment later and she let out an approving sigh as she found his lips. He stayed still inside her and she whimpered at him in encouragement, but he wasn't moved, it was wrong. "I love being with you like this." He murmured into her ear. "I love feeling how eager you are when I slip inside you, how much you want me."

God yes she wanted him. She undulated against him, searching for friction to go along with the fullness, and he snapped his hand down and held her flat against him so she couldn't move. "David." She said his name with more than a little strained impatience.

He smirked and kissed her. "Ask nicely."

Her eyes flashed in alarm as she realized what he wanted. He wanted her to beg. She didn't do begging and the thought of that had her freaking out explosively. "No!" She tried to wrench away from him and he grunted in shock, holding onto her as he pressed her back against the wall, mostly because she'd moved so fast she'd nearly cracked her head on the cement. "I'm not doing that!"

"Okay." His whole demeanor changed in an instant at her strained tone. "Okay." He repeated as he held her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Darcy. Calm down."

It was too late for her to calm down. The game he tried to start, one that for anyone else would have been tantalizingly fun, threw into the past fast and hard. She felt like she'd been punched in the gut as fear ran her over. Tears were gathering in her eyes as she shoved at his shoulders, all good feelings and sensations gone in an instant. "Stop, I want to stop!"

"Okay." He was out of her in a second and helped her out of the pool when she tried to scramble out by herself. Unable to look at him she wrapped herself in a towel as she gathered her suite up. She heard him getting out of the water as she headed back to the house in search of her clothes. David came into the room she was in as she was tugging her jeans on. He was quiet as he got his own clothes, obviously not wanting to further frighten her, and when they were both dressed he spoke quietly. "Let's go home."

She nodded silently, still not looking at him, and they went to the car. Neither of them spoke until they were ten minutes away and on the interstate. She was looking out the passenger side window as he drove her car, he simply took the keys from her after he saw she was trembling, and he was watching the road as he weaved between traffic. She shifted unhappily. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"I didn't know that would scare you."

"I know." How could he have known? There was no way he could have. She felt awful all around. She was upset, scared, embarrassed, and guilty all at once. She felt sick to her stomach. "I'm sorry." She repeated.

"Don't be sorry." She felt his hand over hers and shivered even as she let him twine their fingers together. "What was it that set you off?"

She continued to look out the window so he couldn't see her face. "You wanted me to beg."

His hand squeezed hers. "Did he make you beg, Darcy?"

She thought she might throw up. "Don't go there, ghost boy." She could feel his anger fill the small car as he pulled off the interstate and turned toward the house.

"I would never do tha-"

Her stomach rolled again. "David, I'm going to be sick. Stop the car."

She appreciated that he managed to find the one dark corner in all of L.A. He pulled over under a broken street lamp surrounded by bushes and she scrambled out of the car. She lost her stomach in the shadows and tried to hold her still wet hair out of the way. David was next to her before she was finished and he held her up with one hand and rubbed her back with the other. Coughing slightly she spit bile out of her mouth and ghost boy made a soothing noise as she leaned into him. "Are you going to throw up again?"

"No."

"Are you okay?"

She let out a strangled laugh as she straightened up. "I can't believe you would ask me that question after half the shit you've seen me do."

He didn't seem to find her attempts at humor amusing. He rubbed her back again. "You need to get dried off, baby doll, you're shivering." He urged her back toward her car. "Come on, we're almost home."

She nodded and allowed him to get her back in the passenger seat. She also allowed him to pull her across the space between them and hold her against his side as he drove one handed. He ran his hand over her hair gently and she hid her face in his side. Twenty minutes later and he had them both dried off and in clean clothes, and she'd brushed her teeth. When her mouth tasted like mint and not acid she went looking for David. He was in the kitchen searching through the cabinet he kept medicine in. He already had a bottle of Tums on the counter and was holding another bottle of Pepto in his hand, reading the directions.

He heard her come into the room with him and indicated the medicine. "Which one do you want to try?"

She walked over to him and set the Tums back in the cabinet. "That was a physical manifestation of stress, it didn't have anything to do with stomach acid, but thank you."

"Are you all right?" David was really and truly concerned.

"I'm stabilizing." She replied honestly. "I'm sorry I reacted that way."

"You don't need to be sorry."

She gave him a lopsided smile. "I left you hanging there." She reached for his pants. "That wasn't very nice of me."

As she went after the button he caught her hands. "Darcy, stop, baby doll. Talk to me for a minute." She didn't want to talk. She invaded his space and pressed up against him, wanting to distract him. Lifting her head she kissed the spot under his jaw that always made him react. He let out a small breath and caught her, holding her back. "I'll be more than happy to take you to bed after we talk." He saw the frustration in her at being foiled and he lifted his hand so he could cup her face. "We need to talk about this. You can't expect me to pretend that didn't happen. You were so scared you threw up. You wouldn't let me weasel out of this so don't expect me to let you." She jerked her head in agreement and he nodded. Taking a breath he considered what might be the best thing to ask. "Were you raped?"

She didn't know why he asked that when he knew she hadn't been. Maybe he was trying to cover all his bases. "No."

"How long did he have you?"

She shivered again and he held her tightly, waiting. "They said a week. It felt longer than that though."

"And when you begged he stopped?"

She shook her head and looked at a spot over his head. "No, when I begged I just got to pick what happened next."

"What?"

She shivered again. "I usually said the glass because it hurt less than when I was burned, or when my fingernails were ripped out. That's why my back is so bad."

"Jesus Christ." He had her in a tight hug before she knew what was going on and she slowly wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He held the back of her head as she pressed her face into his neck and she felt his breathing coming out harshly. She was stiff with fear and disgust, and he was stiff with rage and horror. "Is he dead?"

"Yes." He held her for a long time, until her body loosened and she was leaning against him. "We should take a shower. If that chlorine stays in your hair any longer it's going to turn green."

"You're really concerned with my hair right now?" He asked in disbelief.

"Hey, I'm not the one that's going to have green hair in court tomorrow. You're lucky I love you and don't want the suspect to giggle at you behind your back. I suppose we could shave it off, but I'm not overly impressed with baldness, and really I don't see you pulling that look off so well. I suppose we could always leave it green so you would match the kitchen though."

He leaned away from her and looked into her face. "Smart ass." He said affectionately. He lowered his head and kissed her gently.

When he pulled away she looked him dead in the eye. "I'm not a victim. I won."

He raised an eyebrow. "No one that knows you would think you were a victim. Now, let's prevent the victimization of my hair by chemical warfare and clean up."

The knot in her stomach loosened and she allowed him to take her to the bathroom. David made no mention of what they talked about, made no indication that the information had changed anything between them, and she started to relax. By the time they got into bed and he rolled her to her back she felt like nothing out of the ordinary had happened between them. By the time he made her moan and rolled to his side of the bed she had all but forgotten the incident, and when he draped his arm over her middle and his breathing went even she felt totally normal again. She felt a hundred percent normal until she woke up with a shout at three in the morning covered in a cold sweat. At least David didn't try to convince her to wait until it was light out to go running this time. He just told her she'd left her sneakers in the garage and watched as she left their room.


	30. Forward Momentum: Month TwentyFour

Disclaimer: Boomtown is not my property.

**30. Forward Momentum –Month Twenty-Four**

Intently focused on her task she looked at the pictures spread out in front of her. There had been a string of bank robberies over the last two weeks and Joel seemed convinced that the robbers were communicating via graffiti. Terribly intrigued by this idea she, with the help of Tom and Ray, had gone around the city snapping pictures of all the graffiti they could find. She had the images printed out as eight by tens and brought the lot of them to David's office.

Her favorite pair of detectives and David were working on a separate part of the case as she took over half the large conference room table with her pictures and laptop. She was alternating between looking the symbols up online and writing all over the images with a sharpie as she identified them. It was really a great deal of fun, especially with her IPod attached to her hip and her much loved alternative tunes playing in her ears. It was a lot easier to concentrate with music covering up the legal jargon the three were tossing about over the table too.

Humming enthusiastically she practically lunged toward the center of the table as she spotted another match and wrote over it happily. She was still scribbling when one of her ear buds was popped out of her ear. "Darcy!" Ghost boy yelled.

She nearly smeared ink all over the images as she jumped. "Holy crap! I am trying to piece together a subversive subculture here with nothing but web pages made by angsty teenagers and tenacity, and you are trying to take years off my life. What do you want?"

The attorney pressed his lips together as Joel and Fearless chuckled. David let the small speaker fall. "You have been humming the same song for the last thirty-two minutes! For the sake of our sanity change your music!"

She shot him a confused glance. "I have not."

"Yes, you have." He insisted.

"I'm on a playlist, not repeat." She insisted stubbornly showing him her small screen so he could see she wasn't lying.

"In that case stop humming. You're tone deaf."

She shot him an indignant glare. "I'm perfectly capable of differentiating musical tonality!"

"Well, you're incapable of reproducing it."

"What? _What_?" She was now fully incensed. "Lies and slander! My humming is both soothing and inspiring! It's full of crescendos and dramatically beautiful melodies!"

"You sound like a dying possum." He replied dryly, unruffled by her doggedness in proving her musical worth.

"A possum? Did you seriously just compare me to a possum? A _dying_ one?" She narrowed her eyes. "How do you even know what a dying possum sounds like?"

"I hit one with my car once, trust me, you sound exactly like the poor thing."

She glared at him before turning her head away with a sniff. "Perhaps _you're_ the one incapable of identifying sound quality. Did you ever think of that?"

"No, when Fearless pleaded with me to get you to be quiet I figured the majority was in the right."

She shot the tall detective a look of pure hurt and he tried to bit back a smile. "You did?" She asked pathetically.

"I wouldn't say I pleaded."

She made a sad sound and her eyes went to Joel pleadingly. The other detective shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, Darcy, I'm with them."

"Clearly no one loves me." She straightened and capped the pen with a click. "I see how it is, unloved and unwanted by all three of my favorite men." She tossed the pen over the jumble of images with a dramatic gesture.

"Oh please." David muttered as he went back to the legal book he was looking through. "Make a circuit around the office or something, you're driving me crazy."

"That's real sweet. You know I live with you right? I sleep less than you. Think of what that could mean for your future."

"I'm quaking in fear." He replied dryly. "What are you going to do? Paint the kitchen again? Next thing I know it'll be plaid."

As if she would ever have a plaid pattern in her house. That really didn't jive with her taste in the slightest. "It's really far more likely you'll wake up with only one eyebrow." She told him.

The attorney turned his head fully away from his book to take her in. "If you shave off my eyebrow I'll shave off your hair. Keep that in mind." She cocked her head to the side and his eyes narrowed. "What are you thinking?"

"Just weighing the pros and cons." Ghost boy closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. Joel and Fearless were simply enjoying their bantering. "I-" Her phone rang and she grumbled as she dug it out of her purse. The display read private number and she answered it curiously. "This is Darcy." There was no answer but she heard slight movement on the other end of the line. "Hello?" When there was still no answer she hung up and tossed the phone back in her bag. "Whatever, wrong number." She turned her attention back to McNorris. "So as you contemplate how long you may keep your facial hair can I go back to work, or would you like to further distract me with your insults?"

"Yes, I was the one being distracting."

"Clearly, I know that. It's why I said you were."

"Do you two ever stop?" Joel asked.

"No." They answered in unison, used to the question from nearly anyone that met or knew them.

Fearless snorted and pulled a file in front of him. "Maybe you could just do that without the music."

"That really takes some of the fun out of it, but fine." She removed her MP3 player and tucked it into her purse after wrapping the ear buds around the machine carefully. "This would really be easier for me if one of you would snag me a tagger on your lunch break or something. I feel like I'm shooting in the dark here. An interrogation of a teen would really help me out."

Joel was scribbling quickly. "Surprisingly, those taggers are pretty fast."

She didn't see how that part of the issue was her problem. "Umm, so?"

"It makes them hard to catch." Joel continued.

"Can't you send some of the new recruits after them? Like, I don't know, some sort of cop oriented scavenger hunt?"

That one had David chuckling. "If you're going to do that I have a few things we could put on the list for them to gather."

"No scavenger hunts." Joel said calmly, as if it had been suggested in the past and he was once again on the other end of the debate.

"Lame." She replied as she found another match.

Fearless' phone went off and he pulled it out of his pocket. "Detective Smith." He listened to whatever was going on as she wondered if David had any bottles of Pepsi stashed in his office for her. He generally kept four or five in a drawer for her. About three months into their working relationship he'd learned she was much easier to deal with when she had her caffeine. The first time he kept her past nine and he hadn't even been able to produce a cup of coffee for her had been a nasty ordeal for him. He had looked at her like she was a rabid weasel bent on world destruction as she kept smacking his ideas down with a level of skill and wit he clearly wasn't used to dealing with. The next meeting he had placed a Pepsi in front of her and waited to see what was going to happen. When she had started working with him with a lot less hostility he had seen the error of his ways.

"David, are there any-"

"Yes, top left drawer in my desk." She smiled at him in thanks and was straightening up to go get one when Fearless closed his phone with a snap.

"Looks like we'll have to finish this later. There's been a homicide on the west side, apparently it's a pretty nasty one."

Joel sighed unhappily and gathered his paperwork. "Did we get details, or was 'nasty' the only adjective they used?"

"I got 'bloody' and 'sickening'."

"A good one then." The two men stood up and waved farewell. As they vanished she looked down at the pictures. David was already gathering up his things and she questioned him. "So are we done for the day?"

"Half our workforce walked out on us and it's past seven. I think it's safe to say we're finished."

She had come to pretty much the same conclusion, only wanting to be sure they were on the same page, and gathered her pictures up in a pile before putting them back in the manila folder she was using to store them in. "Can I leave these here?"

"You can." He held his hand out and she gave him the folder. He set it on top of his things as she shut down her computer. "Let me put these things away and we can go. What do you want for dinner?"

"I'm kind of beat. How about grilled cheese and tomato soup?"

"If that's what you want." He didn't sound overly enthused by the idea, but he also didn't seem too opposed either. She trailed him into his office as they spoke.

"I can make them with ham in them too. Does that make it more appealing?"

He hummed distractedly as his eyes swept around. His attention darted to the hall behind her and he moved forward and pulled her farther into the office before he shut the door and locked it with a snap. "What are you doing?"

He smiled at her as he reached past her shoulder and flipped the light off. The office was plunged into darkness and the only light that could be seen was the soft glow of the city coming through his partially covered window, the blinds were half closed against the sunset. When his hand came back he took hold of the shoulder strap on her laptop bag and lifted it with ease. He set it on the floor and nipped at her bottom lip suggestively. "Were you bending over the table just to tease me?"

She was terribly appalled he would think she would do such a thing while they were working. It was simply a pity she hadn't thought of that before. She could have made her bending so much more alluring. She raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think I would do something that would be so mean?"

He smirked as he pressed her back against the door. "You?" He asked sarcastically. "Never." His lips found the soft spot right under her ear and she let out a small gasp. His hands slipped between her cardigan and her silky top and ran over her sides. Pushing at his hands she tired to get him to stop. "I'm not having sex with you right now."

"Why?" He asked, undeterred by her wiggling. He was already getting hard and she wondered how long he'd been turned on covertly watching her as she worked.

"Because we're in your office." She might be willing to have sex out in the woods or in a private pool, but this was different. Someone they worked with might come in to work late. McNorris wasn't the only workaholic in this building, or the only one trying to get ahead.

"I locked the door." She eyed him and he smirked. "Come on my little thrill seeker. Give me a good memory of my desk, one that involves you moaning instead of paperwork."

She was torn between laughter and lust, and, as usual where he was involved, lust won out. "You're horrible."

"Actually, I'm very good." He spun her around and backed her toward his desk, lifting her up and setting her on top after he pushed his stapler and several pens out of the way. "At least that's what you screamed at me last night, or don't you remember?" Reaching down he grabbed the bottom of her skirt and hiked it up. She leaned up and kissed him soundly, remembering last night very well. The man did have a talented tongue no matter what he was using it for. "But no screaming this time."

She figured he knew someone else was likely to walk onto this floor at any moment too. "You better keep me quiet then."

His eyes glittered and he kissed her again as he reached under her skirt and peeled her panties off. She lifted her hips and he slipped them down her legs and over her heels. "I think I can do that." He wadded up her panties and held them up. "Open your mouth." She raised an eyebrow, that was pretty damn kinky even for her. He sensed her hesitance, and leaning in he whispered. "You can rough me up tonight to even the score. Now… open."

She eyed him for a moment before slowly opening her mouth. He smirked and put the fabric in, effectively muffling any noise she might make. Then he spread her legs and stepped in between them. She reached out and began to unhook his belt quickly, thinking the faster they did this the better, because she was turned on and she knew if it wasn't fast they would get caught. He was free a moment later and pushing her hands out of the way. He had sure sprung into action fast. She wondered if it was the location, the panty thing, or both combined. A few seconds later and she didn't care as he thrust inside her.

Her back arched and she clutched at his sides as her legs came up. He grunted softly as he bottomed out in her and she raised her hand and flattened it over his mouth. He nipped her palm and then started to move. Wrapping her legs around his hips let him get in deeper and she moaned into the fabric. His grip on her hips tightened as he continued to move in her, his thrusts fast and deep as he urged her to climax.

His quick movements had the desk creaking quietly every time he bottomed out and she clutched at the top of his pants as she tried to pull him closer and tighter to her. Five minutes later and she came with a muffled shout that was barely contained by the fabric. David let out a low, strangled groan and let go right after her. She felt warm wetness spread out inside her and slumped backward over the desk. He caught the edge as she laid out over the paperwork he hadn't pushed to the side. Reaching up she pulled her underwear out of her mouth as her chest heaved up and down.

David managed to get himself under control and rubbed her over her shirt gently as he stood buried inside of her, softening as they got their bearings. She looked up at him and then laughed breathlessly. He smiled down at her as he continued to run his hands over her clothing. "Feel better about my blatant bending now?"

"Much better." She smiled lazily at the answer. "We should go home and do that again."

"You always want to do that again." She murmured as he leaned over her and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and let him pull her upright again. "I think one or both of us might be sex addicts."

"Hmmm." He agreed. "At least it's good exercise. I've lost five pounds since we started sleeping together."

She leaned back and gazed at him disbelievingly. "No way."

"It's true." He kissed her forehead and stepped back, pulling her skirt down as best he could. "I think we spend more time horizontal than vertical, not that I'm complaining." He helped her off the desk. "Let's get home and see if we can make it six pounds."

She laughed as she stood up and slipped her underwear back on. "You're cute." She kissed his cheek and headed to the door. "Home sounds good." She captured her bag again and he followed her after snatching his briefcase off the top of his filing cabinet. When they got in the elevator he found her hand and squeezed it gently. She leaned into his side in response, feeling content with him and her life as a whole.

The two of them had finally, really, settled into this and she knew he was feeling good about it too. After the pool incident something had loosened in her rather dramatically. She was still having nightmares, and still trying to run them off, but they weren't as frequent. She wasn't sure if it was because she wasn't trying to pretend nothing happened to her anymore and it was making her less uptight thinking he was going to find out, or if it was because he didn't make a big deal about it. She felt like she could breathe again or something, and David must have noticed because he was more relaxed around her too. He had asked her one time if she wanted to talk about what happened to her and she had said no. He hadn't asked again, taking her refusal as a sign of ending that part of her life as opposed to denying him something. She appreciated that and instead told him about her parents and her childhood. He had liked that and twisted her hair around his finger as he listened.

He broke into her thoughts as he lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles in a surprisingly sweet display of affection. "You are a very sexy lady, Mrs. McNorris."

Her lip twitched, he'd never called her that before, by his name. At work she was still using Fox even if it was now legally changed to McNorris, it was easier, and they had both decided that the criminals she was interviewing and he was prosecuting didn't need to know they were married. It could cause problems, or make them think they had some sort of advantage if they started to get uppity. Since David was all about keeping them both as safe from the insanity of the work life as possible he flat out told her that if people didn't know they were married they had no business finding out. "Irish by association, what an interesting turn of events." He laughed into her skin before lowering her hand. He went quiet after that and they walked to his car after the elevator opened to the garage. Sensing that he was thinking about something she prompted him gently as she got in the passenger seat and belted up. "What's going on in that head of yours?"

"I want you to meet my sister." He answered as he turned the car on.

She turned her head so she could see him. "You want to introduce me to Mary?" That was more than a small step for them. His father's opinion of her didn't really matter, his baby sister's did. McNorris put a lot of stock into what Mary thought even if he didn't say it. Wanting her to meet his favored family member meant he wanted her to be part of his life for a long time.

"I think you'll like her." He kissed her cheek before pulling out of his spot. "Will you do that? Meet her?"

"I'd really like to meet your sister, David."

Understanding that she was accepting the offer to stay until they were old and gray, and become a real part of his family, had a real, honest to God happy smile light up his face. "Good, because she wants to meet you too."

Apprehension filled her. "She does?"

"When she found out that I got married without telling anyone, and that dad has an apparent and loud dislike of you, she couldn't help but beg to have us out to visit."

"Salt Lake could be interesting, what with the great lake of saltiness. We could go look for all the fish that aren't there."

"Ridiculous." He muttered. His eyes took in the road and he zipped into traffic with practiced ease. "The kids will love you."

Her apprehension increased dramatically at the thought of multiple munchkins surrounding her and seeking attention. "I'm not very good with kids."

"Yes, you are. I've seen you with them before."

"One scared kid isn't the same as a bunch of excited ones. I was never around kids. I don't know what to do with them."

"Do with them?" That seemed to tickle his funny bone. "They're children, Darcy, not wild and untamed animals. They'll tell you what they want to do, that, or jump all over you begging for attention."

"So they're just like you except shorter?" She asked.

He huffed at her. "Very funny." His hands found hers again. "Do you want to have children?"

His sudden turn to seriousness made her nervous. "Me?" She tried to stall. "Do you want kids?"

"Yes." He said without hesitation, changing lanes so he could turn at the next light.

"Then why don't you have any?" He had been married for about six years before she dropped into his life. That was plenty of time to have several rug rats.

"Marian never wanted any." He answered. "We fought about it more than once." Then he shrugged. "Eventually I gave up on the idea."

But she was a whole new ball game so to speak. She might not say no to that, he might have another chance to try. To be honest she had contemplated that before, but that had been before she moved here, when she was married to Jason. She had actually started to look into buying a house so they would have room for a baby, and while she'd never said that out loud to him, Jason had worked it out when he saw she was only searching for houses with two and three bedrooms. Since he'd died she hadn't thought about it again, for one she didn't have a partner, and for another she thought she was too unstable to try to raise another human being. She was aware all parents screwed up their children in some manner, but she didn't want to do more damage than she had to do, and she would have messed up with the way her head was.

After a moment she responded. "I gave up on the idea too."

He tilted his head in interest. "Any chance that might change?"

She nodded slightly. "Maybe we could talk about this again in a few months."

He got what she was saying. They could talk about it when their relationship was completely stable and she'd had a chance to think that over at her leisure. She wasn't willing to get pregnant unless she knew, without a doubt, that he was still going to be in her life. He also knew she wouldn't leap into a decision like that without thought, it wasn't like her to do that. "I would like that." He squeezed her hand. "Maybe around February?"

"Okay." That seemed fair to her. It would give them time to totally settle, him to figure out where he wanted to be career wise, and her time to think about having a baby. "That sounds good to me."

"So, how about we stop for burgers instead of cooking?"

"This from the health nut?"

"I think I can eat fast food once every six months without dying."

"That's good with me." She brightened and tugged on him insistently in her sudden excitement. "Let's go somewhere with milkshakes."

"That's what you need, more sugar."

"It's true, I do. Think of how excited I'll be when we get home. Lot's of energy to burn off." He chuckled as she started to bounce in her seat.

"All right, we'll get you a milkshake."

"Cool." She kissed his cheek. "Good to me." He smiled as he turned the corner and headed toward a Wendy's. She started weighing the odds of her getting him to eat a milkshake too as he headed toward the drive thru.

Author Note: Real life is trying to consume my soul! Sorry about the wait on this one, and thank you for all the super nice reviews recently! You guys are so cool!


	31. Unravel: Month TwentyFour

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**31. Unravel – Month Twenty-Three **

She jerked awake unhappily when the alarm went off with a blaring and horrid beeping. She whimpered pathetically and tried to bury her head under the pillow, and consequently David's neck. Ghost boy grunted in annoyance at both the noise and the jostling, and smacked his hand over the button to stop the horrible sound.

"I'm not going to protect you from the noise." He said sleepily as he hugged her to him.

How mean a thing to say. "You don't love me at all do you?" She grumbled as she continued to try to burrow under him.

He huffed and allowed her to knock him around the bed for a second before letting her go. "I'll make breakfast to prove my utter devotion to you. Do you want eggs?"

Well, if he was going to do that she supposed she could forgive him for letting the alarm go off. "I like eggs." Especially the ones he made. His omelets were spectacular in every way.

He chuckled at that and stretched out under the blanket as he got her out from under him. It was good he knew how to motivate her to listen. "I know." She turned her head and pecked him on the nose.

"And coffee." She mentioned, so he wouldn't forget her caffeine.

"I thought that went without saying." She murmured her agreement before pressing her lips against the soft spot under his ear. He growled as she intentionally hit a sensitive spot. "Were the acrobatics we preformed last night not enough to keep you sated until tonight?"

She snickered as her leg hooked over his hip. "You make it sound like we were doing high wire tricks naked." The thought had her laughing more and he grinned as he kissed her. When they broke apart her eyes were sparkling. "And no."

"You're insatiable." He kissed her neck. "You're going to wear me down to nothing and then what will you do?"

"Find a new albino to love. It could take a few weeks to locate one, but that's okay." He growled indignantly at that answer and she laughed some more. "You could just think of this as practice for February."

He went still for a second before lifting his head away from her skin and looking at her. "Practice?" There was a hopeful gleam in his eye and she nodded shyly. She thought it might be the first time she'd ever been shy in front of him, ever. He lit up all over and kissed her deeply and slowly. His hands started running over her bare skin and she pressed full length against him. His hand ran between her legs and he hummed in approval when he found she was already wet. "What do you want?"

If he was going to be this excited about making her happy at the mere thought of practicing for making a baby, she could only imagine how much fun it was going to be when they actually started trying. "Deep."

Getting to his knees he grabbed her legs and pulled them up. Resting her ankles on his shoulders she watched him as he positioned himself and pushed inside of her. He took his time sliding in and she whimpered at him. Unmoved by her wordless plea, he kept his pace slow until he bottomed out in her. Then, instead of moving, he reached down and started to rub her clit. She let out a cry and he grunted as she tightened around him. He continued to rub her and she started to buck and beg. That must have been as much as he could take because he pinched her as he pulled out quickly and thrust back in hard enough to jolt her. She came apart with a scream as pleasure cascaded over her body.

He started to thrust shallowly while she was still shaking and he pulled her orgasm out to a nearly unbearable extent. Finally, he let her come down as he went still inside of her. Gasping, all she could do was mewl in dissatisfaction as he pulled out of her completely. That didn't last long though. He reached down and flipped her over before she knew what was going on. When she started to raise herself up he pushed her shoulder blades and her arms spread below her as her top was pushed into the sheets.

"Not so fast. You said deep." She quivered under his hand and he chuckled as he grabbed her hips and raised them a few inches off the mattress. "Spread your knees as far as you can." She did what he said and he hummed in approval when he saw how flexible she was. Then he thrust back into her and she moaned. "Now that I know you can bend this much we're going to be trying a few new things." He thrust into her harder than before and she tangled her fingers in the sheets. "Been holding out on me."

She managed to gasp out a retort. "Not my fault you can't wait to get inside me long enough to get experimental."

He reached under her and flicked her clit in rejoinder. "That was wrong of me."

"So wrong." She agreed breathlessly.

"Is there any way for me to make it up to you?" He was starting to grunt from the effort of holding on.

"Making me come again would go a long way."

He groaned at that as she tightened around him again and started pistoning into her quickly. A minute later and she screamed into the sheets as white-hot pleasure coursed through her. He let loose inside of her in a long wave and she felt wetness spread out inside her before it started dripping down her legs. That must have been really good for him. He was still holding her hips tightly as he pulsed and she wondered if he was going to make it, or if she had finally succeeded in killing him. His grip finally loosened and he fell forward, catching himself on his arm before sinking over her. He stayed inside of her, showing no intention of pulling out, and kissed her shoulder between gasps.

She let him cover her as they lay there trying to catch their breath. She loved getting him in this state, so satisfied he couldn't move or form coherent thought. It really made her feel like a siren, which was an interesting mindset for her when most of the time she pictured herself as a geeky know it all. It was nice to branch out, especially when McNorris made it so easy for her to get in touch with her raunchy side.

Eventually, he pushed himself up enough to pull out of her and she sighed regretfully. He kissed the back of her neck and rubbed his hand down her rib cage. "Are you sure you want to go in today?" He nibbled his way along her shoulder. "We could stay in bed instead. I'll make you scream over and over again, think of today as an encore from last night."

Last night had been a good one. After managing to get him to eat a milkshake they'd played together for more than a little while. She supposed they were on a bit of a high from the idea of meeting his family and the baby business. "Don't tempt me."

"I'm not tempting, I'm promising." His hand slid under her and he rubbed his fingers between her legs possessively.

Unable to wiggle with him pinning her down all she could do was moan. "Ghost boy."

"Hmm?"

He knew damn well what he was doing. "You're making it really hard for me to stay convicted to my cause."

He barked out a laugh and rubbed her more firmly as he slipped two fingers inside of her. "Poor thing." He clamped his teeth around her shoulder briefly and she bucked. "This is your fault though. You make me feel like I'm eighteen and can't control myself."

"Oh, sure, how like you to blame me for things." He pinched her for being sassy and she let out a yip.

"What was that?"

"Please, David." She ground her hips against his hand.

"That's what I thought you said." He rubbed her up to her release and she came a third time in less than twenty minutes. Quivering from the overload she lay in a sweaty heap as he ran his hands over her body with a gentle kind of possessiveness. He gave her another minute before moving. "Time to get up if we're working. We need to clean up." He glanced at the clock. "And I have to be at a hearing in an hour."

Grumbling internally, she stretched out before slipping out if bed and walking to the bathroom. McNorris was close behind her as she stepped into the shower. The water warmed up pretty fast and she started washing off. David ran a washcloth over her shoulders and back and she sighed contentedly as she washed her hair. Then he started the morning all over again by rubbing the washcloth in teasing circles from her breast, down her belly, and between her legs. She bated at him teasingly. "Bad, lawyer!"

Chuckling, he kissed her briefly as he spun her around to face him. "I'd rather have you then breakfast." He pushed her against the tile wall. "Spread your legs for me, sweetheart. I'll make you moan again."

That sounded wonderful. She lifted one of her legs over his hip and he caught it as the water from the shower hit his back. He slipped into her again and she sighed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He flattened himself against her and began to thrust into her quickly; all they really had time for was quick. She kissed her way up his neck as he moved, and he groaned at the feeling. "Feels so good, David." She nibbled the base of his jaw. "Don't stop."

"Darcy, I'd stay in you all the time if I could." He twisted his hips and she let out a mewl of appreciation. "Are you going to scream for me again?"

"Oh, God." She arched her back in an effort to get him in deeper. "Don't I always?"

He leaned in and kissed her hard. "You always do." He jerked his hips harder and she cried out as he brought her to the edge. He did it again, and then again. She bent into him and screamed in pleasure. He didn't last. He came with her, clutching at her thigh and side as he moaned. She gasped as she leaned into the tile and he slowly let go of her thigh as he let his body rest against hers. Moving her hand she ran it through his short, wet hair. Lifting his head he kissed her deeply for several minutes until the water started to cool. Washing them both off again he turned off the water and they got out of the shower. Grabbing her hairdryer she got dry as fast as she could while David disappeared into the bedroom to get changed. Once it was dry she put on her makeup with the towel wrapped around her body and came out. He was putting on socks as she pulled out an outfit.

As she dressed an odd sense of safety, domesticity, and affection passed over her. She was home. Her heart clenched briefly as she slipped into a pair of boots. Finished dressing, she turned and batted his hands away from the tie he was getting ready to knot. Doing it for him, she let it lay down over his chest and kissed his cheek before leaving the bedroom.

She was tossing her lunch in her bag quickly when he came out after her. Wrapping his arm around her waist he kissed her cheek and she leaned back into him as she checked to make sure she had everything she needed. "Stay home with me."

Her lip twitched, if nothing else he was persistent. "No, David." He laughed into her neck as he kissed her. He went quiet after that and wrapped his arms around her middle as she zipped her lunchbox closed. "When do you want to go to Salt Lake? I need to get the time off."

"I'll call Mary tonight and ask when will be good for her."

She turned her head so she could see him. "Okay. Let me know. I just need a couple weeks heads up so I can arrange my schedule around everything."

"I'll give you plenty of time." His eyes darted to the clock on the microwave and he kissed her one last time. "I have to go. My hearing shouldn't last more than a few hours. Do you have time to go over some interview tapes with me this afternoon, or do I need to wait until tomorrow?"

She turned around in his arms and kissed him quickly. "Unless an emergency crops up I can be at your office at about three."

"You know you have to meet with me don't you? It's part of the job description."

"Oh, I'm a job now." She teased as she escaped his clutches and gathered her things up. "Six months ago I was the woman you couldn't have and now look at me. I'm nothing but a job to you." She sighed tragically and he smirked as he grabbed his briefcase off the table.

"Smart ass." He leaned over and pecked her cheek. "I'll see you later. Have a good day."

"You too." She snatched her keys up and returned to her bathroom briefly to get her lipstick. She tossed it in her purse and headed out, following David's lead after making sure everything was locked. She stopped at her favorite coffee shop on the way to the department and got there in less than fifteen minutes.

She walked in the bullpen sucking down coffee, this wasn't unusual, but the annoyed look on Joel's face as he talked to someone was. She couldn't tell who he was speaking to as she passed, since his back was to her, but he was in a black suit. From the way he was standing and the bulge she saw on his hip under his jacket she was guessing a fed. Lovely, because she got on so well with them, if this was another FBI agent she was going to throttle them. At least she was relaxed after her morning with David.

When Joel saw her he jerked his head to get her to him and she grumbled as she wove her way toward him past the desks and chairs scattered haphazardly around the space as she wondered what was going on now. The detective continued to talk as she approached. "I heard what you said, but I'm telling you we don't need your help on this. I don't care if the DNA pinged on your sonar in Washington. Our psychologist is the best profiler I've ever met or heard of. If you don't believe me my chief will be here in ten minutes and she's here now."

Her heart warmed a little at the praise until the man spoke, then it went cold as ice. "I'm sure she's fine for what you're used to dealing with, but you can't handle this-" He turned around as he was talking when he heard her approaching, and his sentence cut off abruptly. Familiar green eyes snapped to hers and he went still all over. She stiffened in shock and Joel picked up on the wrongness of the situation. "_Blythe?_"

"Blythe?" Joel was looking at her and she nearly screamed in frustration.

"Tanner." She said neutrally as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder as she tried to regain control over the unexpected situation. "Nice for you to drop in. Can we talk in my office?" She needed to isolate this as fast as possible.

"Your office?" His stare intensified. "You work here?"

"So it would seem." The man's head whipped around and she followed his gaze. She spotted Darren walking around a corner completely focused on his cell phone, more casually dressed than he had any right to be, with his fingers moving at light speed. He looked exactly the same as he had the day he helped her pack her belongings into a moving van. His lanky frame made him seem even taller than his six foot seven inches, and he looked a bit like an ear of corn. His unruly dirty blond hair, khakis, and green shirt that read 'There are 10 types of people: Those that read binary and those that don't.', really wasn't helping her mental image. He seemed worried by something, his normally carefree smile replaced with a crinkled forehead, and a moment later her PDA went off. She pulled it out of her bag and looked down.

_Call in sick. Srsly. We r at ur department._

Well, that was a helpful, if ill-timed alert. Rolling her eyes, she shoved the device away and found Tanner with a knowing look as his gaze swept between her and his computer genius. He worked out what had just happened, that his techy knew she was here, and that he had no doubt helped get her this job and camouflage her, in less time than it took her heart to beat. He barked across the room. "Darren!"

The man snapped to attention and saw her. Crestfallen, he approached them with a carefully blank face. Joel was trying to work out what was going on as he realized she knew these people. "Darcy, is everything okay?"

"It's peachy." She replied as she jerked her head to the door in the distance. "We'll be out in a minute, Joel. I'm sure I can convince Special Agent Tanner that we can handle this situation without outside help."

The older man followed her without further comment and she unlocked her office quickly before ushering him and Darren inside. Shutting the door the second they all in she tossed her purse on her desk, then, she turned on him. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Me? What am I doing here?" The normally cool and calculating special agent, who had seen more bad than any human should, was angry and as close to snarling as she'd ever seen him. Darren had retreated to a corner, trying to hide himself with a filing cabinet, and sent her an apologetic look as he tugged out his high tech PDA and tried to appear busy and productive. Tanner was really the only human on the planet that could get Darren to even come close to being obedient or well behaved, except maybe for her. "What are you doing here?" He was keeping his voice low but that hardly made the power and rage over getting shocked senseless by her appearance any less noteworthy. "You vanish like you never existed and I find you here? Now?"

"Tanner-" Darren started, trying to stick up for her. "-I-"

"Quiet!" The computer wiz snapped his mouth shut. "You and I will have a discussion about this later!"

Her eyes narrowed. She would admit she had once been intimidated by Tanner, as nice as he'd always been to her, but she wasn't now. She wasn't young or green anymore. She'd been through her own trials, and after that he wasn't so scary. "Leave off Darren, Tanner. He didn't do anything wrong."

Her old boss was back on her in a moment. "How long have you been here?"

"Since I left." She moved toward her chair and waved at the chairs on the other side of her desk. "So do you want to tell me why you're here or would you rather have a tantrum?"

He didn't rise to her goading. "What do you mean why I'm here? Don't you know?"

An inkling that something might be wrong hit her. Between the appearance of Tanner, which was never a good sight at a police department, and the knowledge that a murder had occurred last night she was on edge in an instant. "No."

"I thought you worked here?"

She rolled her eyes and spotted a new file on her desk. Assuming that was what this was about she picked it up. "Believe it or not I no longer spend all my time at work. I decided to restructure my priorities." She sighed as she flipped the first page open. "So what was so bad about…"

She lost focus on him and everything she was saying as she got a good look at the printout. She felt all the blood drain out of her face as a generic photo ID taken out of the JAG database stared up at her. "Is this supposed to be funny?" She snapped as she locked her eyes on Tanner.

The man pressed his lips together, his expression closing down. "I hardly think I need to tell you I have no sense of humor." He replied.

She snapped her wrist so they could see the picture, the force causing the photo paper to crack at the sharp movement. "Tanner, what the hell is this?"

The two men shared a look. "Some of the DNA found on the scene last night was his. It set off Darren's alarms." Tanner replied as he indicated the photo. "Captain Jason Blythe."

Her attention snapped back to the report. Three images in and she had gone from pale to ashen. The victim was covered in cuts and burns, the pattern familiar, but fresh on skin that wasn't her own. Half of the woman's fingernails were missing and her body was bruised all over. On her left hand was a gold wedding band that she recognized because it had once rested on her own finger. Flipping to the next image she saw a message written in blood on the wall.

_Peek-a-boo, I see you._

She let out a breath as fear and confusion chased themselves about her head. She flipped through the images without speaking, trying and failing to see how anyone could mimic a dead psycho's MO so well. In a near panic she realized that no one could, not when she recognized over half of the bloody tools they found sitting on a table in the empty building. After a week of them being used on her there was no mistaking the slight peculiarities of each item, a scratch here, a dent there… all the same. There was only one explanation to what had happened, and it had her freaking out.

Her voice was full of rage when she spoke. "You said she was dead." Her head came up as cold settled in her belly, spreading out until she was numb. "You said I killed her."

Tanner went as emotionless as her as Darren shifted uncomfortably. "It made you feel better, helped you recover. You would have gone after her if I'd-"

Absolute fury replaced the cold in an instant. Before she even knew what she was doing she had punched the special agent across the cheek hard enough to send him reeling into the filing cabinet next to Darren. The younger man yelped as a chair upended and Tanner smashed into the hard floor. "You son of a bitch!" Her screech filled the office and she had no doubt the noise had made it past her thin walls and the cracks around the door. "You fucking lied to me!"

Darren was stricken at the sight of the former marine on the floor at his feet, half propped up by the old metal cabinet and partially covered by a chair as the door flew open. Fearless had his gun in his hand and Joel was six inches behind him with his. They both looked ready to stop whatever was going on. "What the he-" Fearless started, but she was already over the man and yanking his gun out of his holster. Before Tanner could blink she had the safety off and the gun against his head.

"Where is she?"

She'd give the older man props for breaking out of his daze so fast. "Are you really going to shoot me, Blythe?"

She clenched her teeth. "That isn't my name anymore, and yes." She pressed the gun harder into his scalp and the detectives were frozen watching as the agent sat calmly between a loaded gun and a filing cabinet watching her seethe and threaten his life very honestly. "Where. The. Fuck. Is. She?"

"Darcy stop." Darren's voice cut through her rage. "This isn't helping."

She never took her eyes off Tanner's. "Did you know, Darren?"

"Not until after you left." He replied.

"Where, Tanner?" She snarled.

"Do you think I would be here if I knew? We lost her two years ago and then suddenly she blips back on the radar. And what do I find when I get to the scene? You. Maybe you could tell me where she is and why she's here now."

Her emotions shifted again at that question, her anger replaced by logical reasoning. Why now? And then she knew. David was why now. "Oh, fuck me." Standing up she dropped the gun on the agent's lap and lunged for her purse. She tore her phone out and hit speed dial.

David picked up on the third ring. "Can this wait? I'm about to go into a heari-"

Relief that he was still alive coursed through her. "You're at the courthouse?"

There was a slight pause as David heard the barely controlled panic. "Yes, what's the matter?"

Behind her Tanner was picking himself up. He brushed off his suit and re-holstered his weapon as if she hadn't just threatened to kill him. "Do you see a redhead anywhere?"

"A red-?"

She didn't have time for him to question her. "Focus! Do you see one?"

There was another pause as he studied his surroundings. When he spoke his voice was steady but alert. "Yes, in the east corner. He's looking at-"

She interrupted him. "It's a man?"

"Yes."

"Do you see a woman with red hair anywhere?"

"No."

She ran her hand through her hair in agitation. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. What's going on?"

"Don't leave the building when you're done. Stay in a crowd while you're there."

"Why-"

"David, don't leave, and if you see a red headed woman, or one that could have dyed her hair, don't go near her. She's five foot eight and curvy. She's got green eyes and freckles across her nose. You'll know her if you see her, she's scary cold, you'll be able to feel it rolling off of her. If the hair on the back of your neck stands up that's her."

"I-"

"David, I'm not fucking with your head, she's trying to kill you."

He growled in confused fear. "Darcy, I have to be in front of the judge in less than two minutes. Explain."

"I will when you get here. I'll have an agent there to pick you up when you're done."

"An agent? What kind of agent?"

"One that owes me a freaking huge favor. His name's Tanner and he'll be more than happy to show you his credentials. I have to go. I promise I'll tell you what's happening when you get here."

"Fine. Don't do anything stupid before you tell me what's going on."

A little late for that. "I won't do anything else."

"What do you mean else? Are you trying to give me a stroke?"

"No, I'm trying to keep your ass alive. Go to your hearing." He let out an aggravated sigh and she couldn't blame him. "I'm sorry."

He snipped at her over the receiver. "I certainly hope I get to find out what you're sorry about." She didn't answer and he sensed he'd upset her. "You've got me riled up. I'm sorry. We'll talk soon, just be careful whatever you're doing."

"I will." She promised as she pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "Two hours okay?"

"Two hours." He agreed. "I have to go now or the judge is going to dismiss the case."

"I know." She didn't know what else to say. "Just mention him being left handed and it's in the bag right?"

"Right." David responded before ending the call.

Setting the receiver down she turned back to Tanner. "Well, what the hell are we waiting for?"

"Who was that?" He asked her calmly, unperturbed by their previous encounter despite his bruising face.

"My husband."

"Well, fuck Blythe."

She rolled her eyes and snapped. "Yes, thank you for that!" The man simply shook his head and handed her the file she'd dropped.

"Get to work. Looks like we have three days, five hours, and twelve minutes before she shows up again." The cold reappeared with a vengeance as she took the papers and looked down at them. She felt like she had walked into her own worst nightmare, because she had.


	32. Background Check: Month TwentyFour

Disclaimer: Boomtown isn't my property.

**32. Background Check –Month Twenty-Four**

The door to the hotel room Darren had brought her too exactly seventy-eight minutes ago opened, and David stepped in followed closely by Tanner who had his hand on his gun. She glanced over from where she was staring out the window and Darren turned his attention away from his computer. When they'd first gotten here, Tanner seemed sure it would be safer having her at some random location than her house or work, her whiz kid friend had hugged her tightly. Darren had done his best to make everything seem normal, but it wasn't. When the techie realized making her feel better was a no go he retreated to his computer and started doing some sort of analysis. For her part she had flipped through the stack of files that he'd brought in with them, and when she found the one on her she pulled it out and set it on the bed.

Unsure of how to begin to explain this to David, when she knew she had no choice, she figured this might be the best way to go about it. Darren had watched her as she moved, and then reached into his laptop bag. "I brought you something."

"You didn't need to do that." She told him, thinking that he was too good to her after she abandoned him so many months ago. She didn't deserve gifts for that, she was a bad friend.

He shook his shaggy head. "Yeah, I think I did." And then she saw he had her old gun, the one she'd left in her desk next to her badge over two years ago in her old hip holster, and she took the weapon from him.

This was a really good thing for him to have brought her. "Thank you."

"No problem."

Removing the gun she inspected it critically and made sure it was loaded with the safety on before putting it back in the holster and attaching it to her belt. The weight of it was both strange after so long without it, and familiar after more than three years being closer to her weapon than most people. "How'd you get this on the plane?"

"Why do you always ask me questions you know I won't answer?"

"Habit I suppose." She replied as she sat on the bed and stared at her wedding band.

There was a brief silence before Darren spoke. "You look good, Darcy. You're all tan and fit."

Her lip twitched briefly. "Are you saying I used to be fat and pale?"

Darren laughed at her, the carefree sound filling the room as his brown eyes sparkling. "Yes." He said sarcastically. "That's exactly what I meant."

"I knew it." She heard him typing quickly, doing something on his computer, before he continued. "So what's he like?"

"Who?"

"This mysterious new husband of yours. Is he as cute as your last one?"

Her lips twitched again before she leaned forward and ran her hands through her hair. "Why? Going to try to steal another man away from me?"

"A man does that to his friend one time and gets labeled for life. Derek was too pretty to let you have all to yourself."

"And he swung both ways too much for you. He really was a sleaze."

"Thank God it only took a trained profiler and a genius to work that out between us. We're both too good for him."

A flash of amusement hit her as that memory flowed over her as she remembered how the two of them had bickered over the dark beauty that was Derek. They'd met him in a bar after work one day. She, Darren, and Jason were trying to blow off some steam a month or so after the techie had joined them, before Jason had asked her out that first time, before she thought he was interested in her. They had spotted the statuesque man behind the bar and had a friendly match to see who could get him first. Jason had been un-amused at the game, mostly because he was jealous she was trying to catch a man that wasn't him, not that he'd told her that until months later. Regardless, Derek hadn't worked out for either of them, he was too flighty. "I'll let you decide how cute he is."

Darren wrinkled his nose at that response. "Should I be worried you married an ogre?"

"Well he certainly pretends to be one on occasion."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, that was mean and untrue." She stood up and paced around the small room restlessly. "I'm just upset."

"It'll be fine-"

"Don't even try that with me." She stood back up and started to pace, her inability to run making her jittery and unsure of everything. She couldn't clear her mind and her thoughts were chasing themselves in circles. No sooner had she paused by the window than the door opened.

Ghost boy was frazzled and extremely unhappy. She could tell he didn't like Tanner behind him for some reason and his shoulders were straight and squared even as he set his briefcase down inside the doorway and out of the way. "Darcy, who is this?"

"Tanner, you need to give us a few minutes."

"Fine, twenty minutes. We don't have time for this." Tanner stated as he glanced down at his watch. The man was well aware of the timeline they were operating under. "You need to be focused or we won't get anywhere."

David didn't take a shine to her being ordered around. "Don't tell me how long I can talk to my wife. You can come back in when we're done talking."

The ex-marine eyed her husband. He wasn't overly impressed with him, she could tell. "I deal with scarier men than you on a daily basis, McNorris. Don't try to throw your wait around with me."

"Look you-"

She cut in before the two could go at one another. She was sure with their personalities it wouldn't end well, and Tanner had already been punched in the face once today, she figured that was enough. "David, this isn't helping." She said, her voice strained.

The attorney pressed his lips together and Tanner glared at him before crooking his finger at Darren. "I'll come back when I come back. Darren, bring that machine, I need you to get into the precincts database."

Darren stood up as he gathered his laptop to him. "Why won't you ever give me something challenging to do?"

"Don't push me today." He growled as they walked out. When they were alone David turned his attention to her, he'd been glaring daggers at Tanner the whole time he was leaving the room and she wondered what had transpired between the courthouse and this hotel. She met his eyes feeling desperate and guilty. Without speaking she pointed to the file she had extracted from the others and he stared at her for a moment before taking a few steps forward and picking it up. When he realized it was about her, about one sentence in, his eyes came back up to hers. She looked back out the window, wishing the report didn't contain any photos but knowing taking them out would only be another way of lying to him.

David went back to the report and sat down on the edge of the bed, where she had been not two minutes ago, and started to read in earnest. She knew when he hit the bad part of the report because he shifted his weight noticeably. Five minutes after that and she heard him flipping through the images slowly. She closed her eyes and centered herself before leaving the window and sitting own beside him. She was staring at the wall in front of them instead of at him and he spoke. "This is you?" His voice was soft, any anger he had when he walked in gone, and she understood why he asked. It was hard to identify her injuries in the images; she hadn't allowed a full facial shot.

"Yes."

There was a pause as he stared down at one. "Someone did this to you?" It was like he couldn't believe a human was capable of turning her into a science experiment that studied pain. Considering what he did for a living she could only assume it had been as bad as she always thought.

"Yes." She cleared her throat before continuing. "I know you read the report but I want to be sure you understand what happened. Plus, there are things that aren't in there." He was silent so she took that as a go ahead. Since she saw no place to start but the beginning that's what she did. "About a month after I started college I met Tanner. He was a guest lecturer in my intro to psych course. He knew my professor and agreed to come in to tell us what it was like to be a profiler in the Navy." Her mind traveled back as she spoke. "I thought he was so amazing, I asked all kinds of questions, and after class he found me and talked to me. He could tell how smart I was and he liked that. He gave me his card and told me when I was finished with my undergraduate work I should call him, he said I should call before that if I ever had any questions or needed advice. I was so young then, barely fifteen, and I was lonely at school that first semester. It took me awhile to make friends because I was so young and I used to be pretty shy, as hard as that must be for you to imagine."

"You weren't living at home?"

"No, my parents lived about eight hundred miles from my college. They told me it would be a good experience learning to live independently and I wanted them to be proud of me so I never told them I wanted to stay home with them longer." She shrugged; she'd get back to that later. "Anyway, I ended up emailing him every few weeks and he always answered. It was nice having someone answer." Her eyes went distant before she returned to the story. "He was good about getting me out of my little bubble even if he only used the Internet to talk to me, he told me I should get out and meet people, in a nice way, so I did."

"I learned to deal with older people than me pretty fast once I was brave enough to try to fit in somewhere. It helped that I joined a couple of clubs. No one seemed to think I was as young as I was, just that I had a baby face or something. There were other people there that were eighteen or twenty that looked like me so I didn't stick out all that much. Tanner told me I would do better if I didn't tell anyone how old I really was and I took his advice, it worked." It hadn't been a bad experience for her. "I actually liked college after that, I liked being away from my parents, I liked having friends that understood what I was saying and could keep up with me." She smiled slightly for a moment. "I got a fake ID too. I think that was the first thing I ever did wrong in my life, but I wanted to go to the clubs and bars with people after I got my driver's license."

She moved on to more important things quickly. "I told my parents I was majoring in biology because they thought hard science was legitimate. They thought psychology and anthropology were just fun for me and didn't think much about it. They didn't get that I was more interested in social science then what they were interested in for me. For them anything that wasn't a hard science wasn't worth doing." She'd already told him about what they did. Her father was biologist and her mother was a chemist. Needless to say they were hardcore science freaks. To them 'real science' solved real problems people had, she always figured that was pretty debatable.

"When did they find out?"

"A month before I graduated. To put it mildly they weren't all that happy, but I didn't care at that point. They forced me into independence and then got pissed when I made my own decisions. I wanted to be a profiler, I wanted to do something interesting that mattered. When they found out they told me I was on my own financially. That didn't bother me other than the emotional fall out we had. I called Tanner up and he helped me get into a good program and get it paid for."

"He recruited you didn't he?" This was a statement more than a question.

"Yes." She began to play with the cuff on her blouse. "I didn't know exactly what he did to get everything settled, but he got the navy to pay for everything if I agreed to work for them for three years when I was done with school, and do all my internships with him as my supervisor at naval bases. I figured a few years of my time was well worth my doctorate, so I agreed and signed a contract with him. I met Jason my last year of school when I was working on my dissertation. He was stationed in the building my office was in, at the time I was doing side work for the navy, reports and assessments of the officers that needed to be reviewed. Jason worked in navy intelligence, he was a marine. You were right about him being older than me, six years. He was the one that taught me how to fight and shoot."

"We got married about two years after I started in the profiling division and then I had an apartment, and a husband, and a job. I was like everybody else starting a life except I was working with the navy to hunt down really bad people. I'm sure it won't surprise you to know Tanner was my boss. He's a good man under all his cold gruffness. He taught me what I had to do, and then, one day, I was better at it than he was. He didn't care though, not like a lot of people would, he just let me do what I did." She began to get tense as she approached the part that was and wasn't in the folder, the part that might have McNorris walking out the door and never looking back.

"I worked a lot of bad cases. My unit wasn't exactly… tied down. We were consulted pretty regularly by other agencies and could go on loan. One of my first ones dealt with the mob. A few people died in that but I was so green Tanner had me at the office the whole time, I still saw the aftermath though. Talk about a reality check. Not many of our cases were much better, but I was good at my job." She licked her lips. "Then, two and a half years in, we got a case that should have been easier than it was. A serial killer that targeted young brunettes, for us it wasn't even interesting. Problem was the killer had infiltrated our unit and she wasn't the normal perp, which was how she never got caught. No one ever looks for a female serial killer; they're so rare that it's a waste of time, only one percent of a drastically small percentage of people. And people instinctively trust women don't they? Especially one's that seem to be just shy of smart, ones that are pretty and understanding, ones that do their jobs and stay out of the way. She was an FBI agent that came in with the case. We thought she was the one after the killer instead of being the killer. By the time I worked it out she had broken into my apartment, shot Jason in our bedroom in the middle of the night, and knocked me out."

She went quiet as McNorris shifted his weight nearly imperceptibly this time. She knew he was fixated on the story, unwilling to move too much lest she break off now. "When I came too I was in a basement." She paused, unwilling, even now, to go into details, not that it mattered since he'd gotten all the detail he could ever need from the file. "You saw what she did to me." She waved to the file he was still holding. "I had time, while she slept, to work out why I was there. She had some self-image issues and wanted to share them. She was married once too and it was an abusive relationship, which didn't help her already poor mental health. That had her snapping and it didn't help that she was a sadist and liked to hear other people scream."

She trailed off, finding the former agent's mindset as disturbing as she ever had. "Finally, I got loose when she got sloppy. I got her to trust me, at least as far as she's capable of trusting, and she got lax with the restraints. I wasn't in great shape, I could barely stand up, but when she came in from upstairs I stabbed her in the chest with the glass she'd used on my back." She steadied her breathing. "She didn't go down all at once, it pissed her off getting hurt, and she hit me in the head with a bat and knocked me out. When I woke up I was in the hospital. One of the people living next to the house she had me in saw a blood trail from the front door to the driveway from where she left to get help and called the police. They found me and took me to a hospital."

"Tanner told me I'd killed her when I asked where she was and I believed him because he had never lied to me before and I knew where I hit her. I was in the hospital for a month before they let me go home. It took me another three months to recover and then I was back at work. The problem was I was useless after that. I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't look at the scenes, or hear the testimonies of victims without flashing back. I couldn't live in my apartment because I kept seeing Jason in my head. I kept waiting for him to walk in the door, or out of the bedroom, or worse I would stare at the place he'd been killed for hours and hours even though the carpet had been replaced. I was really screwed up and I knew it."

"When my contract was up two months later I resigned and no one seemed surprised. I took the first job I could find that was as far away from where I had been as I could. One of my friends that I worked with, Darren, the one in here with me, was a computer hacker. He changed my name and everything else about me so no one could track me down, and I moved here two days after Hicks offered me the job. I had to start over. I had to get away from where I was because all I could think about was Jason, or that basement, or being in the hospital after. I wanted to be somewhere that was completely different because I wanted to be able to function again. I wanted to try to be normal, I didn't want everyone I knew looking at me like I was a victim, I couldn't stand that anymore. No one knew I was here but Darren, at least that's what I thought, but somehow Dana found me again. The scene Joel and Fearless went to last night was one she made. When they entered the evidence into the computer it set off Darren's cyber alarms. They were at the department when I came in."

She knew she was pretty close to a full-blown panic attack after all this, but there was something she needed to do. There was something she had to do. Moving her hand, she pulled off the ring he had given her and placed it on his palm, folding his fingers around it.

David went stiff when he realized she was giving the ring back. "What are you doing?" He asked, his voice sharp.

"I told you that you didn't want to be married to me." No one would want to be married to her after they knew about her past, after finding out what was going to be happening soon. "This woman is here to kill you because of me. It's what she does. She picks her victim and kills her husband. I'm so sorry, David." She wouldn't blame him if he walked out on her after this. "If I'd known she was alive I never would have-"

He cut her off angrily. "Never would have what? Lived your life? Been my friend? Loved me? Moved in with me? Married me?" He shook his head. "Maybe not in that order."

She thought she might start to cry. "There's a sadistic serial killer after you because of me. You should leave now before she knows where we are."

He went logical on her. "I'm a deputy district attorney in the most dangerous city in the country. Let's be realistic, it was only a matter of time before a sadistic serial killer was after me."

Her shoulders hunched up. She was utterly unconvinced by this argument. "You don't need to try to make me feel better about this. I know this is my fault."

"This isn't your fault. You can't control, reason, or otherwise stop a sociopath short of putting them in prison or killing them. It only took me one case with one of them to work that out."

"I tried to kill her." She shifted her weight, trying to give him an excuse and knowing it was pointless. "I stabbed her in the chest… I don't understand how she lived through that… But I passed out, I don't know what happened, I just assumed-"

"Enough, Darcy." He took hold of her hand and slipped the ring back over her finger. "It is what it is."

She tried to take the ring off again and he pushed it back and twined their fingers together so it couldn't come off. "David, you don't want-"

"You don't get to decide that for me." Reaching up with his other hand he turned her face to his and she was looking him in the eye for the first time since he'd opened the folder, which was now on the bed behind them.

"I lied to you." She said, meeting his eyes even as guilt and shame rolled through her in powerful waves.

"No, you never lied to me." He ran his thumb over her cheek. "You just didn't tell me everything. I understand why you didn't."

His lawyer semantics weren't making her feel any better; a lie was a lie. "You told me who you were. I'm sorry you found out this way. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

"I'm sorry you were forced into it." She stared at him, stunned, and he sighed softly as he ran his thumb over the line of her jaw. "You would have told me eventually. We were edging around it so much it was inevitable. After the pool I knew it was only a matter of time before I found out, I figured we had all the time you needed to decide on when it was going to be. I wanted to know what happened to you, but I didn't want you cornered, it isn't fair to you that you didn't get to pick your time when I got to pick mine when I told you about my past. I knew it was bad, baby doll, I did, all this did was fill in the gaps. I had some of it worked out on my own anyway."

She felt close to tears and let go of his hand so she could twist around and hug him. Her arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders and he pulled her over his legs. She buried her head in the place his neck met his shoulder and hoped she wasn't getting makeup on his suit. "I'm sorry this happened. I'm sorry I'm so messed up and you got dragged into it."

He wrapped his arms around her back. "I like the level of messed up you're at. Our messes match."

That was sweet, true, and crazy all at the same time. She held him tighter knowing that even if she was squeezing too hard he wouldn't mind the pain. "I won't let her hurt you." She promised him adamantly.

He kissed the side of her head. "It'll be okay, Darcy. We'll get this sorted out and then we can go to Salt Lake."

"Just like that?"

He rubbed her back. "Just like that." He kissed her head again. "By this time next week everything will be back to normal."

Relief that he wasn't leaving coursed through her. "Thank you." It came out as a broken whisper.

"You never walked out on me, Darcy. I'm not about to run screaming out of this hotel because I know who you are." He squeezed her shoulder. "When this is done we can have that talk I know you've been needing to have for so long, but right now we need to find this woman. What can I do to help?" Lifting her head she kissed him hesitantly and he returned the show of affection without missing a beat. Realizing he really had accepted what she told him, her past, and her, she felt herself calming as much as she was going to. He smiled at her, tucking her hair back, and she told him what to do.


	33. Reevaluation: Month TwentyFour

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown, but I'm having a marvelous time hanging out in L.A. with the DDA.

**33. Re-evaluation- Month Twenty-Four**

McNorris watched her circle the small hotel room for what must have been the twentieth time before he couldn't stand it anymore. Getting up, he caught her as she passed the chair he had been sitting on, and trying to read the massive amount of information Tanner had brought with him, and picked her up. "No more."

Unlike her usual playful response to being carried around by him, because usually it made her feel wanted and pretty turned on, she got pissed. "Put me down." She snapped demandingly.

"Darcy, if you keep pacing you're going to wear a hole through this floor and plummet into the room below us." He set her on the bed and followed her down, laying out over the mattress with his feet still on the floor. When she tried to get back up he rolled his eyes and yanked her backward, having her spilling over his chest. When she came to a stop he clamped his arm over her chest and upper arms, pinning her against him. She thrashed and he simply held her to him, knowing very well he was stronger than her and that she had no real intention of hurting him to get away. He knew she was just out of ways to blow off steam and needed an outlet of some kind. She was sure McNorris figured he would be as good an outlet as any at the moment.

They'd been in this room for more than six hours, and the time was passing at a snails pace for her. Tanner, Darren, and apparently two other agents that had been at the department while they were fetching David and hiding her had left. She had only met the two men briefly, and they made no impact on her at all. Tanner was starting a full out manhunt and Darren was getting their house ready. She had no doubt by this time their home was covered in alarms, cameras, and all assortment of high tech bugs. It made her feel violated knowing that, even though everything was being done to keep them safe, or to catch a killer at any rate.

She hated the feeling, knowing her privacy, which she took so seriously, was being invaded to such a degree. It didn't make her feel any better knowing most of her coworkers, that she had tried so hard to stay on equal and normal footing with, knew something major was going on and it had something to do with her past. She was afraid they might already know what happened to her. It was horrible, everything about this was horrible. It had taken her two years to trust the man she married enough to tell him what occurred, and thinking that other people would find out was making her nearly insane.

She flailed up again and David simply hauled her back. "Do you want me to call the concierge and see if there's a gym here?"

"What am I going to do?" She asked sarcastically. "Run in heels and my work clothes?"

"I'm sure they could find some sweats for you." He said patiently, ignoring her increased annoyance and snipping.

A surge of irrational anger at his calm demeanor rolled over her for a minute before it vanished. She went still all at once and nodded as she stared up at the ceiling. That would actually make her feel a lot better. She couldn't go outside, it wasn't safe, but she saw no reason an indoor gym wouldn't work for her even if she had to run on a machine instead of the sidewalks that she preferred. When he felt her surrender to him and his idea he patted her side with the arm around her, and reached for the phone with his other one. A few minutes of fast talking later and he had found her a treadmill and was promised a pair of size eight sneakers and workout clothes would be waiting for her by the time they got there. The phone clacked in place as he set the receiver down and she turned her head so she could see his face. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it. You'll feel better and think faster once you've worn this energy off." He pushed her upright and she got to her feet as he grabbed the notebook she had been writing in furiously for the first five and a half hours they were here, along with his own notes, both their cell phones, and the room key.

"You don't have to come watch me run in place." There was no way that would be interesting for him, even if he did like to watch her move, after the first three minutes. Plus, she thought having someone eyeballing her while she worked through her anxiety wasn't likely to make her feel all that great or get her to calm down even if she was running like all hell.

"Yes, I do. You aren't going anywhere without me until this is done." He said it as a fact and she knew this wasn't going to be debatable. She figured that was okay with her, after a moment of thought, since she wanted to be sure she knew where he was at all times too. He was, after all, the first target. That thought made her stomach role as an image of him lying dead in a pool of his own blood with a bullet through his eye struck and stuck. She tried to shake it off.

"You're going to look funny reading in a gym." She pointed out, mostly so he wouldn't know she was edging from fear to panic again.

He quirked an eyebrow at that. "You think I care?"

That actually had her lip curling up at the corner. "No, not at all."

He pointed to her jacket on the edge of the bed. "Unless you want to scare the tourist's or leave the gun here, you better put that back on."

She nodded in agreement and slipped the jacket on, covering her sidearm. David ushered her to the door and she checked the hall with her hand on her holster before she let either of them leave. It took them about ten minutes to locate the gym and she took the clothes that were waiting for her gratefully from the woman standing behind the desk. She retreated to the locker room to change as ghost boy check the gym out. By the time she came out, with her clothes under her arm in a bundle so she could both hide her gun and get to it quickly, he was sitting in a folding chair next to a treadmill in the corner with her notebook open. He had a pen in his hand and was getting comfortable, at least as comfortable as it was possible to be in a chair like that. She noticed the woman working at the counter watching him strangely as he sat next to where she was about to work out in a designer suit, and she knew this looked super weird, but she figured she cared about as much as McNorris did.

She walked over to him and set her clothes on a windowsill conveniently close by. If she had to she could lunge forward six inches and get to her gun. He started scribbling his own notes before she even had the machine on. "Critiquing me?" She asked curiously.

"No, I'm taking notes on this book you wrote."

She huffed out a laugh as she turned to an appropriate speed. "I wouldn't call it a book." Although she had filled about fifty or sixty pages of it. Her hand hurt more than a little and she was glad she wasn't holding a pen anymore, speedwriting really wasn't any fun, but she hadn't had her laptop to work with.

"I would." He said as he crossed his legs and started reading in earnest. "Now start running while I get through this."

Shaking her head she did just that. Neither of them spoke for well over an hour. David seemed engrossed by what she'd written and was periodically taking notes, scribbling down questions in the margins, or checking what he had against her notes. For her part she let her mind shut off as she ran, increasing the speed on the treadmill several times until she was satisfied with her pace. After a few minutes she realized that having him watching her wasn't going to be an issue, he wasn't paying attention to her at all. When she was breathing heavily and sweat was coating her, and soaked through most of the material she had on, ghost boy broke the silence between them, and the one that had taken up a pleasant residence in her mind. "Darcy, I don't understand your profile."

She puffed out a question. "Huh?"

"This doesn't make sense." He flipped back and forth between a couple of pages. "I think you might be too involved in this to have your usual clear perspective on the sick twists the human mind can take."

She turned the machine off and slowed to a stop with it. Turning her attention to him as she held the sidebars and breathed heavily she shook her head. "While I freely admit I'm too close to this on so many levels, I don't understand what has you confused."

He shook his head slightly. "I mean I don't understand why you were targeted, or why she's after you a second time. It doesn't match her other victims, you don't match."

Her eyebrows came together and she wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Are you serious? Female, brunette, married, career woman, mid to late twenties. I'm a perfect match. She's coming after me again because I got away."

"On the surface I see what your saying, but you don't match any of these other woman, not from what I'm getting out of the reports."

That was weird. "Maybe I wasn't clear in them. What isn't matching?"

"You are a career woman but when she met you, you were in the navy. That's not a very feminine profession." He flipped to a page and pointed to it, not that she could read it from where she was. "These other woman had more gender oriented jobs, a teacher, a nurse, a banker, a receptionist, and a waitress. The highest education level any of them attained was an undergraduate degree and all of them were still considered to be at the bottom of the food chain at their jobs. Not that they were old enough to have worked their way up, but you stand out. You had a doctorate, a non-traditionally female profession, and you were at least middle of the rung if not higher. With a doctorate you automatically went in as an officer." As she absorbed that he kept going. "And from what I'm reading these other woman weren't on equal ground with their husbands. All of them were shy, introverted, and in more than one case I would bet dominated to the point of utter submission. You don't fit into that at all."

"Damn it." She managed, trying to work out how she hadn't spotted any of that. It wasn't all that hard to see the difference. She was a much better profiler than the work she was producing right now. "How did I miss all that?"

"You're too close." He said without anger or disappointment at her obvious failure of a report. "You're wound up and you're missing things." He looked her over and noticed she was much calmer after her run. "But now you're focused, so why would she want you? Why did she go after someone so fundamentally different than her normal type?"

She thought about that, hard. "I'm sure she's after me this time to get even. She needs to finish this or she won't ever feel complete. It would be like having a mosquito bite that you aren't allowed to scratch. It'll drive her, well, crazier than she already is anyway. Anyone she kills before she gets to me is only going to let her ignore the feeling for a little while. It won't make it stop."

He nodded, accepting that. "Fine, but why did she go after you the first time? Why you, Darcy? There must be thousands of better candidates for her to choose, but she picked you." He looked at her for a moment, hesitating, before diving into something else. "And why did she have you so much longer? You outlasted the other woman by at least forty-eight to seventy-two hours." When she noticeably flinched he continued, set on this line of thought. "And while I'm sure that doesn't seem like a blessing to you, it was. It gave you time to get loose. Why would she risk that? Why would she risk the time when she knew damn well the rest of your team would be looking for you? She knew they knew it was her that got you. She had to have known it was only a matter of hours before she got caught. Why take the chance?"

"The risk is the whole point."

"No, getting off is the whole point. When you get down to it the risk she took wasn't worth the gain, not compared to her other murders. She isn't one of the ones that wants to get caught. She isn't doing this so someone will notice; if she were she wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of hiding all the evidence so well. She wouldn't have taken her own case if she weren't trying to cover it up. All she wants is to get her high; if she gets thrown in jail she won't ever get that again."

"My whole profile is shit." She moved to the ground and tried to dry her neck with her sleeve. "I need to start over."

"Don't get worked up again, you'll have to run it off, and if you run any more you'll collapse. If she's following her normal time line we still have a couple of days to work this out, so you have time." He stood up with all their things and she grabbed her clothes. "After you get cleaned up you can look at this again." He pushed her hair back. "Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah." She rolled her neck. "A lot actually, nearly normal."

"Good." They walked out of the gym and back toward the room. He threw his arm over her shoulders when they got in the elevator and she glanced at him.

"You're going to ruin that jacket, and I know it's your favorite one. I'm all sweaty and gross."

He sent her a lecherous glance. "Believe it or not I like you all sweaty. Most of the time I'm happiest when you're all sweaty."

She huffed out a laugh. "You are such a pig." He chuckled in satisfaction at either making her laugh or having her fighting back again and she sighed good-naturedly. "At least Darren is bringing us clean clothes back after he ransacks the house with his geek gear."

"How wonderful." His voice was thick with sarcasm. "Another man pawing through your panty drawer. I'm so grateful for the consideration."

She tried, and failed, to suppress a laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Don't try to make light of this. I don't care if he's 'only your friend'. There's no such thing with a man. He's thought of you naked before and I don't need him rifling through your underwear getting more ideas. I'm the only one allowed to rifle through them."

Unable to resist teasing him, she fell into their normal bantering. "I'm sure he's thought of me naked. He's seen me naked."

"_What?_" He turned his sharp gaze on her. "He's _what_?"

She shook her head as she snatched the room card out of his pocket with klepto like skills. "You heard me. He walked in on me in the shower one day when we were sharing a room on assignment."

"Why were you sharing a room?" He asked suspiciously.

Poking McNorris with such interesting results was actually really fun. She should try to make him jealous more often; he went all caveman on her. That was so hot. "Why does it matter?"

"You just told me he saw you naked and you're asking me that?" He asked in disbelief.

She slipped the piece of plastic in the door and the little light on the lock flashed green. Opening the door she headed toward the bathroom after she set her things down on the small entertainment center. "Do I detect a hint of jealousy, David?"

"No, I'm simply wondering how hard I'll have to hit him to cause the memory to vanish."

God, he'd kill the other man, Darren wasn't a fighter. "You aren't hitting Darren. Besides, it's not my panty drawer you need to be worried about."

"What does that mean? Did you sleep with him?"

Unsure of how he jumped from her panty drawer to having sex had her smiling slightly. "Umm, no, I never slept with Darren."

He narrowed his eyes and she could tell she had riled him up. That only amused her really. "I'm not messing around, Darcy."

She shook her head. "I never slept with Darren, David. We're just friends."

"I don't believe you. If he brings your red panties I'll know."

"You'll know what?"

"That I have to hit him." He stated.

She laughed and ended the teasing, she didn't want Darren injured by an envious David that was thinking things that would seriously never happen. "Ghost boy, if I were you I would worry about which pair of your boxers he brings back with him."

"What?"

"Darren plays for the other team. He was totally checking you out before he left." She sighed dramatically. "You wouldn't be the first man he stole away from me."

That had David pausing. "He's gay?"

"Yes."

He blinked. "He stole a boyfriend away from you?"

"Well, he is pretty cute. Darren has the whole puppy dog look down big time." She shrugged. "Plus, we were sorta having a contest to see who would get Derek, so I can't be angry that I lost."

"You were having a contest to see who would win a bi-sexual man?" He asked it in a way that made it clear he wasn't sure he actually believed what she just said, or that he had just uttered that set of words in all seriousness.

"Yup." She replied as she headed into the bathroom to clean up. David followed her like a moth that had caught sight of a bug zapper.

"You're messing with me."

"Not at all." She said as she sat on the edge of the tub and unlaced her sneakers. "That is a one hundred percent true Darcy McNorris story right there. It seems I'm not the shying daisy you once thought I was."

His eyes lit up with curiosity, as if he had never in his life expected to hear her admit to having done something so very naughty or mischievous. "And you lost?"

"That's right, rub it in my face, but keep in mind the loss may have let you land me." She tossed one shoe to the side and went for the next. "Who knows what could have happened if I'd won? I might have several very beautiful, non-albino babies by this point."

He leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, his expression one of pure bemusement. "You know when we have a baby it won't be blond." He nodded to her.  
"Not with your hair as dark as it is."

He had said that as if she were already pregnant, and she couldn't find it in herself to mind. His whole stance on what was going on right now was pretty reassuring. "There's really no way to tell, genetics are weird. It might get all the recessive genes I'm hiding. When it comes down to it the whole thing is a game of chance."

"What recessive genes?"

"My mom is blond and her eyes are nearly as blue as yours, although you still have her beat on lightness by several shades." She chucked the other shoe. "I got my dad's coloring, not hers."

"Did you?" He tilted his head. "I'd like to see a picture of them."

She shrugged as she stood up. "Sure, I think I have one on my computer. I understand your need to check out the phenotypic traits your child might inherit."

He rolled his eyes. "You don't have to make everything so outrageously complicated."

Her eyes twinkled. "Sure I do. It's more fun that way, besides, you know what I'm talking about."

He shook his head and was about to reply when there was a knock on the door. His head came around and she went still as he eased to the door. Glancing through the peephole he relaxed and opened it. She spotted Darren with David's gym bag, packed so much it was bulging, and ghost boy took it from him with a thank you. Darren nodded with a slight smile and readjusted his messenger bag as he came in. He spotted her in the bathroom as David went to set their things down and took her in. "What are you wearing?"

"Sweats." She replied.

"Dear lord, Darcy. Promise me you'll burn those later. I've never seen you anything that ugly with the exception of that dre-"

"Stop right there. You said we would never speak of that again."

"What dress?" Ghost boy asked.

"There was no dress." She replied. "It never existed."

Darren grinned briefly before continuing. "You know you shouldn't have left the room."

"I needed to run."

"Since when do you run?" He asked.

"You mean she didn't always?" David asked in surprise. She supposed he thought she had always been a runner and her experience had simply exacerbated a behavior she already partook in.

"Not unless you count her running her mouth."

David snorted. "So some things stay the same."

"Hey! It's no fair ganging up on me!"

Darren's grin returned. "Why not?"

"Because neither of you need help!"

Her friend lit up as she basically told him McNorris was capable of running her in circles. That was something Darren had never seen happen to her before. "Oooo, that's the appeal. I get it now."

She chucked a towel at him and he laughed as it hit his chest. "Enough out of you. If you're going to tell him stories about me at least do so out of my hearing range. Besides, I need to get clean so I can redo my profile."

"Are you giving me permission to tell on you?"

She sighed tragically as David grinned eagerly. "As long as you keep it to PG-13 you can tell him whatever you want." She knew fighting the inevitable sharing would only make it worse. "Have fun boys."

As she moved to shut the door she heard Darren start. "Did she ever tell you about the time she threw a cat at a terrorist?"

"She what?" With a groan she started to tug off her top. She didn't even want to think about the kind of ammunition Darren was about to hand her husband. She wouldn't hear the end of this for months.


	34. Leverage: Month TwentyFive

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown, I'm just here to play.

**34. Leverage–Month Twenty-Five**

Walking out of the attorney's office with ghost boy next to her she would be the first to admit she had not had the best week. Not only were rumors flying around over what exactly was going on because no one really knew, the three day count down to when Dana would strike had come and gone without so much as a peep. She and David hadn't been attacked, Tanner hadn't found a clue, Darren's trolling of cyber space had come up with nothing, and the department hadn't gotten one missing person report on a young married female. Hell, they hadn't gotten a missing person's report on any female. It was becoming more than scary, it was damn frustrating. If she were going to be attacked she'd just as soon have it happen and over with so she knew what was going on. She didn't like this waiting game. It wasn't in her nature to wait, it was in her nature to react, and more often than not, attack. She simply wasn't a waiter and neither was the DDA, who was finally starting to show the strain of this too.

They were silent as they got into his car, they'd been driving everywhere together so they'd left hers in the garage at home, and she buckled her seatbelt as she thought. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what was happening right now. She'd come up with two scenarios and neither of them made her feel very good. Either this person was a copycat, or Dana's entire kill ritual had changed. If this was a copycat it meant they had yet another psycho on the loose and Dana was somewhere else, no doubt waiting to find and kill her. If this was Dana and her ritual had changed it meant they were in totally new territory and there was really no telling what was going to happen next. If she was forced to choose she supposed she'd rather have the serial killer hunting her, because at least it meant she knew where she was. The thought of the woman hunting her down in a different part of the country was even more disturbing than knowing she was here now.

Shifting her weight she stared blankly at the dashboard. She was so out of it she failed to notice David had deviated from their normal route home and pulled into a random parking garage instead of getting on the interstate. On the third turn up she noticed and looked at him. "What are you doing?"

"Finding a parking spot." He answered as he continued driving up. She glanced out the window and tilted her head as she tried to work out what was happening. She had no idea where they were, maybe some sort of office building ramp, or why they were going somewhere that wasn't home. However, considering what she'd put him through over the last five days she wasn't going to ask. At this point she'd do pretty much whatever it took to make him happier than he was.

"Well, you picked a good place to find one." She pointed at a spot between a small four-door sedan and a yellow sports car. "There's one." He passed it without pause and she raised an eyebrow as she tried again. "Or there." He passed that too and continued up the ramp. "For someone searching for a place you are being awfully picky."

He hummed and she shook her head knowing trying to get an answer out of him when he was in a mood like this would be as easy as chopping down a tree with a herring. With no option but to wait or leap out of a moving vehicle, she kept her mouth shut as he finally stopped on the level right above the top one. It was still covered since they weren't on the roof, but there were only two cars on the whole floor. He zipped into a corner spot and soon the car was between the cement wall and one of the large cement pillars used for supports. He threw the car in park and clicked his seatbelt open. Following his lead she released hers as well, and was preparing to open the door to go wherever he had planned for them when his hands clamped around her hips and stared to drag her over the center consul of the car.

She let out a small yip of surprise before it dawned on her. He'd brought her up here for some privacy, something they'd had none of since Tanner showed up. Not only were they being constantly monitored at work by both the normal law officers around them as well as her old boss, the house was bugged. They hadn't done more than kiss chastely and sleep in the same bed in over a week. Anything they did was watched or listened to, and even McNorris, who had a kinky streak, had no interest in having anyone see or hear them having sex.

She doubted he would care if he was seen, but his possessiveness over all things involving her had him grumbling mutinously about the surveillance even as he realized that very surveillance was keeping them both safe. The last thing he wanted was her hurt, the second to last thing he wanted was to have anyone else see her naked. He had found the camera in their room within minutes of getting home and had been sure to either cover it or stand in front of it while she was getting changed. Considering only Darren was likely looking at the footage didn't make what David did any less considerate.

But they weren't at home and even knowing they were in a place that someone might catch them, she twisted at once and let him pull her into his lap. In moments she was straddling him and he had pushed her pencil skirt up around her thighs and set her gun on the seat she had been pulled out of. Lowering her head she found his lips and he grabbed the back of her head to hold her still. In the brief flurry of movement she had assumed this was going to be as fast as he could make it, but instead he turned the kiss into something slow and nearly drugging. His other hand came up and he cupped her face and pulled her closer. Reaching out she wrapped her fingers around the lapels of his jacket and pressed herself as close to him as she could get.

Moving slowly his hands slid down her, setting off every nerve in her body, before settling on her thighs. He continued to pillage her mouth, nipping at her lower lip and caressing the sting away with his tongue, as his fingers slipped under the fabric of her skirt and began to stroke her center. She let out a desperate little moan and he growled at the sound. "David, please, yes." Her hands began to tear at his vest buttons and he kissed her again. She felt terribly needy all at once and didn't care at all how frantic she sounded. She could tell from her position that McNorris was feeling exactly the same things she was.

He began to rub her over the quickly wetting silk of her panties and she panted as she thrust her hips into his hand. He stroked her up patiently considering his own condition, and when she started to let out hitching mewls he pinched her clit. She let out a small shout and pulled at his jacket as she pressed as hard against him as she could. Gasping her way down to him she found him tugging at her panties. Realizing she wouldn't be able to get them off in this small a space with any semblance of grace she kissed him again, before telling him what she wanted. "Tear them off, David. I have plenty more."

He let out a grunt of understanding and his other hand disappeared under the skirt briefly. She felt at tug at her hip and then the sound of tearing fabric filled the cab. Reaching between them their arms tangled together as she ripped his belt open and then went at his zipper. He tossed the ruins of her underwear after her gun and looked at the picture the black lace made with the weapon for a moment. His lips curled into an approving smirk and she lifted herself up a few inches, her legs precariously balanced on the very edges of the car seat, and found his lips again, distracting him from the image.

He caught her hip with his hand and positioned himself with the other. As soon as she felt him at the right place she folded her legs and sank down over him. He let out a sigh of approval as she snugged herself flat against him. Considering the space they had to work with that was about all she could do. If she leaned back at all she would hit the steering wheel and no doubt honk the horn. Since they were going for discretion she figured that wouldn't be the best thing to do. David worked out the same thing she did and leaned back in the seat as best he could and held her forward as he thrust up. In return she ground back down and they both started to make noises of satisfaction as they worked to find a release together.

As she started to move up and down carefully he found her lips again. She hummed at the contact and tangled her hands in his jacket again in an effort to anchor herself. It wasn't often she found herself in the dominate position when they were together, since they both preferred it that way, but that hardly meant she didn't know how to draw this out. The switch in the normal roles they played had her more than a little excited and the location of their current affair hitched her lust up yet another notch. Moving up she clenched her inner muscles when only the tip of him was in her and he cursed in surprise at the sudden sensation. Laughing breathlessly at him she sank back down and his eyes glittered. When she did it a second time he got even by finding her center and flicking her. Her laugh turned into a moan of appreciation and he pulled her back down with his hands.

Twisting his head he bit her neck. "That's my girl, you know I love when you play with me."

She did indeed know that. McNorris was always excited when she got creative. Then again, she was generally just as excited when he got creative too. Since that was the case she continued to tease him in the same manner and he started to thrust up harder when she came down. After that it didn't take them long to loose control. She came down one last time, her mind nothing but a fog of pleasure, and he hit her inside just right. Letting out a wail that echoed around the cab he held her flat against him as he toppled with her.

Slumping forward she buried her face in his neck and panted hard. His hands stayed firmly on her hips as he tried to regain his breath and she felt him going slack all over as his orgasm subsided. Lifting her arms sluggishly she wrapped them around his shoulders and cuddled against him. "I don't think it's healthy for us to go that long without having sex." David commented, as if speaking of the weather. "If I have many more orgasm like that it might actually kill me. I'm amazed we both didn't die the first time we had sex, that or explode from all the tension we had built up."

She huffed out a laugh into his collar and kissed the skin of his neck just above it. "That was really good." She praised him with utter satisfaction as she twisted her hand around the back of his head and ran her fingers through his hair the way he liked. "And I've never gone parking before. I now see the appeal."

"This is the first time you've had sex in a car?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yup."

He made a smug sort of noise at learning he was her first in a vehicle and relaxed farther back into the chair. "Did you at least make out in a car?"

"No, why?" He was kissing her again in a moment, sucking on her neck, and she laughed at him. When she pulled away playfully and pushed at his shoulders his eyes were twinkling. "This is completely backwards, ghost boy. Not only have we had sex already, prior to the making out, you're still inside me."

He quirked up an eyebrow in amusement. "Had I known you'd never done either I would have made out with you first. I hadn't realized the gap in your life experience was there. I would have made this a truly special parking event."

The smile wouldn't come off her face, she knew it was the first time she'd managed anything over than a small one since this started, and knew it was a pretty big mile stone when her husband touched her bottom lip with his thumb. "Dork." She accused him.

"That's you. I'm not the dork in this relationship. I'm not the geek either so don't try that title on me, it would be disingenuous." He replied before he kissed her and changed the subject. "Do you want to go home or do that again?"

"Silly question." She answered as she found his mouth again. He smiled in satisfaction and reached up. In seconds he was cupping her breast in his hand and she tightened her inner muscles around him in an effort to get him hard again. No sooner were they getting into it a second time than her cell phone went off. "Damn it." She growled in frustration.

"Let it ring." He muttered as he started to unbutton her shirt, most of his attention on the task as he caught sight of the top edge of her bra.

"So they can send out the S.W.A.T team? That'll go over real well when they find us half naked in your car."

"I picked this lot at random. How would they find us?" He asked as he looked down at her now mostly open blouse and smirked. He lowered his head and kissed the top of her chest as she reached for her purse.

"Both our phones have GPS and your car does too. This model comes with a built in navigation system and you never turned the chip off. Do you even read about the vehicles you choose or do you simply pick the most expensive model on the lot?"

"Stop being a smart ass when I'm trying to get your clothes off. It's distracting. I would think once I was inside of you your thought process would slow down, or stop completely."

"You're ego astounds me." She giggled even as she pulled her PDA out. "Be quiet, ghost boy, and I'll get rid of them. Then we can go back to what we were doing."

"Fine, just hurry up." He said over the peppy ringtone as he tried to work out how to get her bra off with her shirt still partially buttoned and her jacket on. The poor man seemed to be in quite a quandary over the whole scenario. She figured that blood was still trying to travel back to his brain but kept getting diverted by both where his other brain was located right now and the visual of her about half naked in his lap.

She rolled her eyes. "You know, you should be nicer to me if you want to get in my pants."

"You aren't wearing pants and I'm already in you. I don't have to be nice anymore."

She punched his shoulder, hard, and he grunted. "You're paying for that comment when I'm done." His eyes glittered in satisfaction and she knew he had only said that to get a rise out of her. God, he was such a masochist. Hitting the answer button after identifying Darren's number she spoke. "I'm a little busy, Darren, can I call you back in an hour?"

Instead of Darren a soft, utterly feminine voice answered. "Why won't you let me stop it?"

She froze at the voice, her other hand tightening over David's shoulder hard enough to alert him that something was wrong. She kept her voice as steady as she could as she spoke to the woman that had hurt her in so many ways. Getting upset wouldn't help her friend if he were in trouble, if he were still alive. "Where's Darren, Dana?"

Below her David jerked and his head flew up. "Here, there, everywhere."

Her stomach dropped at that response. The woman was by no means stable, but that didn't mean her words should be taken lightly. The last time she'd seen the computer wiz he was at the precinct, but they'd been gone from that building for at least four hours. "Dana, did you kill him?"

"Why won't you let me stop it!" The shriek ripped through the phone and she flinched all over. "I have done everything for you and you won't help me!"

At the flip of a dime she went from fearful to enraged. "You tired to kill me you sick freak!"

"It won't die." Her voice dropped to a near sob. "I keep trying to kill it, but it won't go. Then you left and I couldn't even try anymore. How do you loose part of yourself? Why is it so hard to find again?"

She was silent for a long moment, ignoring David's stare. "What part did you loose?"

"You were supposed to stop me and then you were gone. Gone, gone, gone." She heard small noises in the background as the woman spoke. "I saw us before. I knew what would happen. I knew better than to fall in love, but I was there and married again." Her frown deepened as she listened to Dana talk. "I don't know how I got married again because I never would have done that. Not after Frank, never after Frank."

All at once she realized why everything was so strange about this case. Dana didn't snatch her because she was a young brunette female. She had snatched her because she had started to spiral into a delusion when they met. Somehow, in the other woman's mind, Dana had projected herself into her life. No wonder everything had changed, she wasn't a victim to Dana, she wasn't prey, she _was _Dana. The serial killer had self-imposed her own identity onto her. Like her she had been a young woman in a law enforcement position. Special agent and covert military force overlapped enough to make that real in her mind. At that epiphany she leapt into psych mode.

Lifting herself off David she slid back to her seat and he got back in his clothes at once. She mouthed for him to have Tanner find Darren before starting to talk. They needed to know where Dana was and they could find the cell phone without a problem. David got out of the car quietly, so the other woman couldn't hear him talking, and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Do you still want to stop?"

"It's too late now!" The yelling was back. "I can't! That part of me is gone! The part that could have stopped!"

"But you found me." She pointed out. "Why would you have gone to all this trouble to find me if you thought I couldn't get you to stop?" There was a long pause and she heard the woman breathing, and then, to her horror, a low male moan. "I can make you stop, Dana."

A feral kind of delight surged through her at the very idea, the part that wasn't an educated and productive member of society, the part Dana had let loose in that basement. It was the part she had tried to bury and the part on one had gotten more than a brief glimpse of, the part she tried to run into submission. She was sure David was the only one that really believed she was dangerous, the only one that would try to save her from herself when this started, but David was outside the car and couldn't hear what was happening. This woman wanted to be found, she wanted to be stopped, and she had picked the right person to come to. In that instant something very deadly came to life in her head.

"Let Darren go and I'll stop you." She assured the other woman with absolute sincerity as she watched David talking on the phone quickly.

"He wants to hurt us!"

"He's a computer hacker. He doesn't want to hurt anybody, it isn't in his nature. Let him go and I'll give you what you want."

"Do you promise? Do you promise you'll make the screaming stop?"

Her eyes glittered with want. "Yes, Dana, I promise I'll make everything stop."

Another long pause as the woman breathed raggedly. "If you break your promise I'll have to kill him or he'll find me."

"I won't break my promise."

"Fine. Come find me."

The phone went dead and she lowered hers from her ear. David saw the movement and opened the door. He was still talking as he did. "-she must be close." He addressed her. "Did she hang up?"

She made sure she was appropriately fearful, but not so much that he would get suspicious. "Yeah, I think I convinced her not to hurt Darren."

David nodded sharply as he slid into the car again. "We'll be back at the department in fifteen minutes." There was a reply that he agreed to and then he ended the call. "What did she say?"

"A lot of it was rambling." She replied, only half lying.

"Are you okay?" His eyes searched hers as he reached out and rubbed her cheek. She nodded and allowed him to kiss her. "Get yourself together then. We need to go." With another nod she started to button up her shirt as her mind whirled. All she needed to do was figure out how to find this woman; somehow, she knew it wouldn't be that hard this time around.

Author Note: Sorry this one took so long! Life attacked me! Hope you liked it!


	35. Machinate: Month TwentyFive

Disclaimer: I don't own Boomtown.

**35. Machinate –Month Twenty-Five**

"This is strange." Tanner commented as his eyes swept around the room, looking at items and objects as he pulled a pair of gloves on, the law enforcement officer in him unwilling, or unable, to compromise any evidence that might be here. She'd had her gloves on since she stepped foot in the room and was sorting through papers critically, searching for a message she knew was waiting for her in here.

"As opposed to what?" She asked distractedly as she read. As far as she was concerned a small condo on the edge of L.A., that was tiny by any standard, wasn't even close to registering on her weird shit list. They'd been here for about thirty minutes, most of that time had been spent making sure Darren was alive, and had only just started looking around. They had managed to pinpoint the computer techs phone right when she and David walked into the precinct. Tanner had taken her, after a quick argument with McNorris that lasted about five seconds before she had intervened and told him she was going to the scene. At her stance he had pressed his lips together before stalking inside to see what he could do as she got in the care with her old boss. She thought they might now be fighting, but wasn't entirely sure.

They got to the house after several cops were already on scene along with two paramedics. Once she was assure her friend hadn't been injured too badly, a concussion that had him going to the hospital for tests wasn't bad considering who caught him, had the snarling vicious voice in her head backing down a little. At least it had quieted enough for her regain control. She needed to find the clues Dana had left here for her.

"As opposed to her normal routine. Since when does Dana drag a live man, who isn't married or even close to her type, back to one of her hiding places? And since when is her hiding place where she's been living for that matter? She's not this sloppy." The older man was frowning as Joel and Fearless sorted through a closet and one of his agents walked back toward the kitchen.

Joel joined in. "Are neither of you affected by the bloody writing on the wall?" She glanced over to the wall in question and once again read the message Dana had left.

_Peek-a-boo, now you see me too._

She went back to the papers wondering where that blood came from. It certainly wasn't Darren's. Maybe she'd killed a stray dog or something. She wasn't overly worried about it though, to her it was clear what the message meant, not that she was going to share that. "Not especially so, no." She answered.

Joel shook his head as he pulled a coat out of the closet and set it on a nearby table. He then proceeded to check the pockets and seams for anything hidden there. "I'm really starting to question exactly what you used to do, Darcy."

"Joel, just don't ask." She told him.

Fearless found a box and joined his partner at the table. "I'm guessing some really fucked up shit."

"That's about it." She muttered as she found an oddity among the papers. She pulled out a bill and read it. "Looks like she's been in here about three months."

Tanner walked over to her and she handed him the paper. He scanned it briefly. "I'll go call the landlord to be sure this is right." With that he took the paper outside with him as he pulled his cell phone out. She went back to her own search as Fearless pulled a bloody knife out of the bottom of the box.

"Bag." He requested. Joel got one out of his back pocket and held it open for him. Fearless sealed the bag carefully and took it. "I wonder whose blood is on this."

Joel glanced at it and then the wall. "Probably the same as what's on the wall. We should start checking for a body. We don't have a lot of time. CSI will be here in about an hour and kick us out." She would really like to see anybody throw Tanner out of here before he was ready to go. They'd end up with several cracked ribs or a bullet in them.

"There's not another body here." She said as she moved onto a bookshelf. There was no point in the two detectives wasting their time looking for what wasn't here when they should be focused on what was.

"How can you know that?" Joel asked.

She spotted a psychology textbook with an eerily familiar scratch on the binding and pulled it out. "I just do." The detective sighed and went back to the closet. She supposed after this long he simply gave up on working her brain out. Honestly, she couldn't blame him.

Something in the kitchen clattered as she opened the book and Tanner walked back in. He headed toward the noise, no doubt to teach his new agent how not to destroy possible evidence as she realized she was holding one of her old books in her hand. How Dana managed to get her hands on her intro to psych book was a mystery, since she was fairly sure she'd lost it years ago, but here it was. Her handwritten notes were all over the margins and she recognized the green highlighter she liked to use when she was a teen. Darting a glance around to be sure no one was watching she began to flip through the pages. A moment later and she found a few folded up papers in a small section of the book about brain function. Turning slightly she slipped them into her jacket pocket before closing the book and setting it on the shelf. By the time Tanner came back in she was searching, or pretending to, amidst books on a separate shelf.

"Have you found anything?"

"Not yet." She lied.

When he accepted the lie she wondered if he was starting to slip up, if he was getting burned out, if he was distracted, or if they had simply been apart so long he couldn't see she was lying. At one point she couldn't even hope to fool him no matter how good her falsehood was. Now it seemed it was nearly effortless. "Tell me what happened when she called again."

With a sigh she repeated the same false conversation she had the first time on the way here, sprinkling a few truths in as she went. He nodded as she finished, clearly turning the situation over in his head in his normal meticulous way. "Something changed."

"Things always change." She answered as she shifted to yet another shelf, not expecting to find anything other than what she had. And even if she did it wouldn't mean anything. Not to her, not to Dana, not to this strange, seemingly fateful tie they had. She was starting to think, as un-superstitious and logical as she was, that one of them was meant to end the other. She was willing to comply with fate this one time if it meant this would end forever.

"They don't with serial killers." He said. "You know that. They always have a pttern and they stick to it."

She shrugged without any real emotion surfacing. "There's always an exception, maybe Dana is it." Annoyed with the whole situation Tanner walked away toward a different part of the house. For her part she continued to work, knowing she needed to go through the motions before anything else happened.

Her brain was whirling a mile a minute as she planed and plotted. Dana hadn't been stingy with the three handwritten pages she had hastily read in the bathroom at the department and she knew where she was. She was typing away at her laptop in an attempt to look more productive than she actually was as she sat in David's home office. It was rare that she was ever in this room, but she needed the flat space the desk offered, and the one time she had sat at the kitchen table since this whole mess started and McNorris had nearly had an aneurism. One look at her when he came in from the living room to see her sitting in front of their sliding glass door had him in a panic that she was going to get shot. Her argument that Dana had no interest in being a sniper, and preferred close physical confrontations hadn't won her the argument, so out of options here she was, ensconced in his leather swivel chair.

His office was one part of the house she rarely entered. She understood that the attorney needed a space in his life that was solely his and simply stayed out of here. He had never mentioned that he appreciated the consideration, but she knew he did all the same. It was probably the reason he had let her take over the rest of the house with such ease. Not that he didn't say anything about the redecorating, but honestly he only ever grumbled about it half heartedly, which was just his way of indicating he was aware she had taken over, not that he wanted her to change anything back.

As she tried to mentally calculate the exact number of times she had walked in here, including the several times she had dropped a few books off on his desk before immediately leaving, sticking her head in to tell him something, or that one time she had stolen all his case files, the DDA walked in the room. He saw her frowning as her fingers clicked over her keyboard and he moved around the desk so he was next to her. Leaning back against the desk he watched her as she finished her sentence. When she was done she looked up at him and knew he wasn't mad at her about their brief scuffle over her leaving with Tanner. She could tell when he was mad, even if he was repressing the emotion, and she didn't see any of those signs now. That made her feel a little better, she didn't want to be in a fight with him, not a real one, it was always unpleasant. He searched her face for something for several long seconds before he spoke. "Darren is going to be fine."

"I know." She replied neutrally, unwilling to let any emotion slip lest he catch her at what she was planning. This was ending today. If David somehow managed to work anything out she was going to knock him out and then take off. She would prefer not having to injure him given the option, so she was maintaining an image of acceptable calm.

With a sigh he reached over and shut the top of her computer slowly enough that she could stop him if she wanted. Instead, she allowed it and leaned back in the chair, thinking she needed to adjust it to her height instead of his even as she decided not to because it would only annoy him when he bashed his knees into the top of the desk later on. "I realize this is scary for you."

"David, I'm not talking about this when our house is under surveillance." It was hard enough acknowledging her anxieties and weirdness to him privately. The last thing she needed or wanted was an audience for her insanity, especially when she knew Darren wasn't the one listening anymore. She had no doubt in her mind that one of Tanner's new agents had been assigned to watch them from afar. If David thought she was going to share anything personal right now he was as out of his mind as she was. Plus, if they talked she had no doubt he would wriggle some sort of information out of her.

Nodding in understanding he extended his hand so he could brush her cheek affectionately. "It's late, we should sleep while we can. Tomorrow is going to be as long as today was."

She gazed at him apathetically. "I can't sleep right now. I'm not even calm enough to lay still and you know it." He didn't like that answer, but he didn't interrupt her, knowing when to back off. "Go to bed, I'll be there in a little while. I know you're as tired as me."

"I knew I should have bought you a treadmill." He said.

She rolled her eyes. "You're not buying me a treadmill. I would never use it."

"You could be using it right now." He pointed out annoyingly.

She shook her head. "You are not spending that much money on something I would use for a week."

He huffed, as if the idea wasn't utterly wasteful, and countered her argument with the ease born of practice. "What if we get in another situation like this?"

"David, if we get into another situation like this I'm going to divorce you to keep you alive."

He frowned. "That's not funny."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't a joke."

He pressed his lips together and she looked away, focusing on the titles of his books that were resting on a shelf a few feet to her right. She really thought he needed some lighter reading material. Maybe she should get him a gift card for a bookstore that didn't sell law books and force him into a different genre, one that didn't involve his job. Surely he would like a nice historical fiction of some sort. Was there a way to put limitations on a gift card or should she walk in and gamble on what he might like? It seemed to be a risky business picking out reading material for her husband. She had the feeling he might surprise her with what he would or wouldn't like, because he was contrary that way. His hand was back on her cheek as she thought that over. "This won't last forever, baby doll, probably not long at all now. There was a lot of evidence in that house." Honestly, the man had no idea what was in there.

"I won't let her hurt you, David." She promised softly.

He shifted, and all at once she found him on his knees next to the chair. Turning the chair, and her, around easily until they were facing one another, he cupped her face with both hands and nodded seriously. "I believe you." He stared into her eyes until she acknowledged that with a silent jerk of her head. "But you aren't going to be any good at all if you don't rest."

"That's just not going to happen for at least a few more hours. I'm too wound up."

He clicked his tongue before he started to compromise with her. "I'll go to bed if you stop working. If you're not going to sleep you need to do something to get your mind off this."

"I'll watch a movie then." She smiled slightly. "Seems like as good a time as any for attacking killer slugs."

"You worry me."

This time her smile was more genuine. "Ghost boy, if you don't get old science fiction flicks by now I don't think you ever will."

"Probably not." Leaning in he kissed her gently and she returned it. When he pulled away he smiled slightly. "No more work."

"I'll leave the computer alone."

"The case file too." He insisted.

With a sigh she gave in. "And the case file."

"And your PDA."

She huffed at him in annoyance. "Can I have no fun?"

"None at all." He confirmed.

"Fine." She dragged the word out dramatically. "Here." She picked the phone up off the desk and handed it to him. "Take it so you know I'm being an honest Abe."

"I can't believe those words left your mouth. I married a dork. If only my high school self could see me now." He teased as his eyes twinkled. He stood up with the PDA in hand. Leaning down he kissed her forehead. "Don't stay up all night."

"I won't."

"All right. Goodnight, Darcy."

"Night, David."

Before he left he grabbed her arm and hauled her up. When she squeaked in protest he herded her to the door. "I don't want you to break your promise. Did you think I was going to leave you here with all this temptation?"

"A girl can dream."

"Not if you don't sleep." He smacked her ass lightly as he turned the light off and shut the door behind them once they got to the hall. Turning her, he propelled her toward the living room. "Go watch your movie."

"You're such a hard ass." She grumbled as she retreated to the couch. She heard him chuckle and then he vanished into the bedroom. She wanted to kiss him then, because if she were honest she wasn't sure she would get to again if the next few hours went wrong, but it would have tipped him off. Since she valued his life more than his feelings right at this moment she forced herself to let the compulsion go. Settling herself after she put the movie in she sat on the edge of the couch so she could see the hallway. Keeping her face turned toward the screen she watched out of the corner of her eye as he settled down for the night. Ten minutes after the DVD started the light in the bedroom went off. Satisfied that he was in bed she waited. Knowing him, under this level of stress, she estimated it would take him roughly forty minutes to relax enough to sleep. That meant he should be out by about eleven. Watching the clock, she waited.

When the time on the DVD player read eleven ten she took hold of the remote and hit mute. Silence descended on the room and she strained her ears. A moment later she heard the soft sounds of his breathing and could tell from the depth that he was dead asleep. Hitting the button again the sound came back on and she hoped no one noticed the four seconds of quiet as she was watched her film, or at least assumed she had simply changed the channel.

Knowing where the two cameras in the room were she stretched her arms up over her head casually and rolled her head around. Standing up she rubbed the back of her neck, as if she had a kink, and mossied over to the spare bathroom. Walking in she shut the door and went into a flurry of activity. There wasn't a camera in this room, apparently even Darren had some sense of privacy, which was good for her.

Ripping open the cupboard under the sink she pulled out a pair of boots she'd stashed in here earlier, hidden between a few clean towels she'd carried in from the laundry room, and put them on. Tying the laces tightly she made sure there was no chance of them coming off before taking out the dark hoodie that was also concealed. Within a minute she was covered from head to toe in dark fabrics, the jeans she had put on earlier were dark wash, and she took her gun out last. Cinching the belt around her waist she made sure her firearm was secure in the holster and moved to the window after turning the light off in the small room.

She stood patiently hidden from the outside world by the curtains as her eyes adjusted to the dark. A minute later and her pupils had dilated and she was accustomed to the new light level. Lifting the edge of the curtain she watched the yard. This room was located on the east side of the house and she would need to walk about a hundred yards to David's Chevy. He had finished the engine about a month ago and while he was still working on the interior and trying to decide on a color for the thing, it drove really well. He had been pleased as all hell with himself when he first shoved her inside and took them out for a drive. He was going to be so pissed when she stole it, but both of their cars were in the garage and the door would have made too much noise. As it was it was her only option unless she stole something from the neighbors, which she was fairly sure would cause even more of an uproar.

Searching the area for the camera she knew was there she spotted the small red light a moment later, it had been a challenge to see it at night. She watched it intently as it rotated around, scanning the yard, and counted silently in her head as she worked out how long a time she had to move in as it panned over the area. Knowing she was going to look suspicious if she stayed in here much longer she waited until it was facing the other direction and clicked the latch on the window open and lifted the pane of glass in one swift motion. A second later she had the screen off and then she was back behind the curtain as the camera panned back to her. Setting the screen against the wall silently as she counted she gripped the fabric and waited. When she hit twenty she moved the curtain and swung her leg out the window. Landing lightly on her feet she lowered the glass back down behind her and then took off around the house, pausing at the corner.

Darting her head around she spotted the next camera and twitched as the one behind her swung around. Cursing quietly she bolted the second she could. She only had about a two second window where she wouldn't get caught by either of the machines, and darted to the Chevy. Pulling the keys out of her hoodie pocket she unlocked the car and darted inside. Closing the door quietly she hunched down in the seat and started counting again as she pushed the key in the ignition, put her foot on the break, and threw the car in neutral. Hitting her twenty count again she sat up and took her foot off the break. The car rolled backward on the small incline that the driveway was on and she cut the wheel when she hit the pavement of the road. When she was in the center, and hopefully far enough away at the noise of the ignition wouldn't wake David up, she turned the car on and threw it in drive.

Licking her lips she fought with the anxiety that was building in her and took off to the north. It was actually the wrong direction but she was sure she only had a few minutes, ten tops, before someone worked out she was gone. When they checked the footage she wanted to be sure Tanner headed in his search in the wrong direction. Even if her old boss was likely to guess she was throwing him off he still had any number of routes to try and that gave her an advantage. Five blocks from the house she turned down a different road and headed back the way she had come, but this time she wouldn't be in sight of the house or the cameras.

Ten minutes later she was on the highway and praying no one would notice an old beat up looking car as she went after Dana. She also really hoped David would forgive her for this, but that thought was fleeting, far away, as the thing Dana had found in that basement stirred to life again. It had taken all her self-control to keep it leashed the last few hours, but now it was loose and rabid. Her hands tightened on the steering wheel and she simply let it have control. As the last of her composure slipped away a single thought flickered in her mind before the animal took control. She wondered if she would ever find herself again, or if she even wanted to if it meant getting even.

Author Note: Okay this one took a while because I had to be in the right mindset and it kept evading me. I didn't want to put out a crappy chapter, that's how I am, and I doubted you wanted to read one. But, no worries because here it is! Yay!


	36. Requite: Month TwentyFive

Disclaimer: I'm only visiting. Boomtown isn't mine.

**36. Requite –Month Twenty-Five**

Her eyes darted around the area as she pulled the car between two old factories. She found Dana's choice of locations both fitting and disturbing, there really was nothing in the world like an isolated warehouse in the middle of a port city. Three buildings down from where she parked she saw the particular building she was looking for, one of dozens in this area. There was no need to go back to the letter she'd been written for the number on it; she had memorized the damn thing. It had been both helpful and disturbing; the directions mixed up with rambling and delusional thoughts that held no value to anyone save Dana and possibly a grad student doing research on sociopathic tendencies. Regardless of the use of it she left it on the passenger seat of the car. There was no point in having what happened a mystery in the very likely event she died in the next hour or so. She might want to do this alone but that didn't mean that David had to wonder what happened to her forever. That just wasn't right.

Darting her attention around she opened the door of the Chevy slowly and slid into the shadows of the building she parked beside. Pulling her gun from her holster in a single fluid movement she pressed her back against the wall and went still, surveying what was in front of her. She might be itching to get a bullet, or two full clips of bullets through Dana's head, but that didn't mean she was going to act without thought. The woman was more than capable of setting traps and she had no doubt that given her rather random swings between delusion and reality she might just try to catch her in a bear trap or something, the woman had done sicker things.

Taking a deep breath she centered herself, not because she was frightened, that emotion wasn't even registering, she was simply too keyed up to focus. If there was ever a time in her life she needed to be focused it was now, so she took a few moments to do that. Once she was better she began to creep toward her destination, being sure to make no noise as she moved, placing each step with care and precision, falling back on lessons Tanner and Jason had taught her when she was still young, and green, and innocent. Lessons that she had never appreciated more than at this moment when she new her target was within range and reach of her, when her need was so strong she thought she might go mad from it.

Nearing the warehouse she paused again, searching for an entrance that would be safe. All she could find was a door that was cracked open and swinging slightly in the wind, the metal lock lying broken and twisted on the ground nearby. She knew well enough that was where Dana had gone in and she swayed briefly in indecision. Should she go in and hope the woman wasn't waiting right inside, or take the time she wasn't sure she had looking for another way in? After a moment she decided to go the way that was given to her, figuring Dana would want to talk before anything happened. She hoped she was right about that as she reached out with one hand and pushed the door open slowly. It swung in with little noise and she waited again, expecting to be pounced or shot at. When she was sure no one was coming out she eased inside silently.

The darkness deepened as the moonlight and the diffused lights from the city were blocked by the old rusted walls. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly and she focused on her other senses as well. She smelled mold and rust, and the musty smell of brine on the air. She wondered what was stored in here, or if Dana had another victim holed away, waiting to be freed or her body found. She heard small noises as her ears strained. The sound of wind blowing through the rafters and what she was sure were rats scuttling about the floors and inside the walls and crates she could see piled about. Above her she thought she heard wing beats, but if they were of pigeons or bats she didn't know or care, she wasn't here to observe the wildlife.

Going cautiously she searched for things that might hurt her. There wasn't much around except the crates that were stacked twenty feet up on heavy metal shelves. At one point she stopped to get her bearings next to a pile of industrial metal pipes that she thought might help in roadwork but she didn't know what they were for sure. As her eyes slid about she heard a noise that didn't belong here the way the others did. There was a thump and then a muffled whimper. She gritted her teeth to stop herself from letting out a snarl and snuck forward more quickly. Slinking around another of the many shelving units she saw light and pulled back at once, afraid she would be spotted.

Holding her gun she lifted it and put her back to the crates, walking sideways as she moved forward. All at once she caught a scent of purification and had to stop herself from gagging or making a noise of disgust as the smell rolled over her. Turning her head about she spotted the source above her head. A hand and head of what she could only assume was a man was lolling over the edge of the shelf wedged between two of the metal boxes. His face was bloated and purple, and some of his skin was starting to fall off his skull as his muscles and soft tissue degraded. She caught sight of movement and his hand jerked before a squeak sounded. The rats were feeding off him. Squinting into the darkness she noted that there was a bullet hole in his left eye and realized this must have been the husband of the woman they had found more than a week ago, the one they hadn't found at their apartment or anywhere else. Why Dana had dragged him back here was a mystery to her, but judging from how he looked and smelled she guessed the time line was right. The darkness of the warehouse, and the coolness of it, would have kept the body from liquefying in the L.A. heat, at least for a few days longer than it would have outside.

Turning her attention away from the corpse she focused ahead again. There was nothing she could do for the man and she didn't need a rat or maggots falling down on her head if they got jostled off by their competitors. Getting to the edge of the shelving unit she peeked around the corner. What she saw had her stomach rolling and her rage building to unbelievable levels.

In a cleared section of space made by the imports Dana was sitting on the cool cement ground laughing strangely. She watched the woman as she held her gun easily in her hand. The psycho had seen better days, that was for damn sure. Her once pristine appearance, that she maintained so meticulously for an assortment of reasons that were both practical and psychological, was gone. Her bright red hair was tangled and matted around her shoulders and against her skull, and her hands were dirty and scratched. She noted with little emotion that several fake nails were still glued onto her fingers, but the majority were gone to who knew where. Even Dana's clothes were ragged and worn, her short-sleeved blouse faded with age, dirt, and small drops of blood that no doubt came from her last victim. Her pants, a pair of jeans with ripping and ragged seams were in even worse shape, and it wasn't hard to work out why. The woman had sliced a number of long, jagged marks into her own body. She knew now where the blood on the wall of the small condo came from. Dana had used her own fluids to paint it on after she cut herself.

Keeping her eyes on the woman sitting on the floor she stepped into the open, being sure not to set off any of those booby traps that may have been set up in anticipation of her coming here, because she could see well enough that the other woman had made everything up for her. The area had been turned into another one of her torture chambers. There were handcuffs attached to a metal table that could be found at any large supply store, waiting to hold her, and her tools were lying about haphazardly. It seemed Dana hadn't left all of them on the last scene. She spotted a pair of pliers that was far too familiar and the lighter with a zebra print she liked to use so much. She also noted, with more than a healthy amount of detachment, that a mirror had been smashed to make the long glass blades she liked to use so much. The pieces of it fell across the top of the table and over the floor, throwing out a number of eerie images of the room reflected in any number of directions by the large industrial light she had glowing next to the table.

The sights and smells of the room that Dana had brought in, the stimulation of it, had the last shreds of morality and decency leaving her in a single icy blast. She caught sight of her eyes glittering oddly in a nearby shard of the mirror and focused all her attention on her tormentor. She wasn't the only one watching; Dana had focused on her with disturbing intensity.

"Hello, Dana." She said, her voice cold and unfamiliar.

The former special agent laughed some more, the sound bouncing around the warehouse hollowly. "I knew you would find me." The woman smiled and looked up at her, there was madness in her eyes, and the danger was as present as it ever was, the difference now was that she thought she might be even more unstable than the sociopath. "But how could I hide from myself? No one can do that for long. It's impossible isn't it? To hide from your own mind."

Nice and crazy. This was just like old times without the nostalgia. "I told you I would come."

The other woman's eyes hooded. "You promised to make the screaming stop."

Primal want tore through her. "I did." She lifted the gun and Dana's eyes flashed. "I'll make it stop, Dana, you don't have to wait anymore."

The woman hissed at her and scrambled to the table in a strange lilting crouch. "No!"

Her eyes narrowed as the other woman grabbed at the handcuffs and snapped one closed around her own wrist. The strangeness of it had her pausing with her finger on the trigger. Once again the other woman threw her off balance by her behavior. "What are you doing?"

"I get to pick, I get to pick, I get to pick!" Her voice rose steadily with every word. "I get to pick!"

Fuck no, that wasn't going to happen. "That's your game, Dana." She raised the gun until it was level with her head. She had every intention of making this quick. Once the woman was dead she would clear the scene, hide the body, and toss her gun in a place no one would ever find it. She'd told McNorris a long time ago a body was necessary for a trial and she had really meant that. Without a body there wasn't a case, only a missing person, and really, who would look for Dana? The only one that would look would be Tanner and if he thought there was no chance of him finding her he would give up and move on. There were so many other sick freaks in this world that Tanner would be kept busy for centuries. "It isn't mine. There's no game anymore."

"No!" Dana screamed before her voice dropped dramatically. "No." Suddenly she was calm and logical, the random shift in demeanor was disturbing to say the least. "This will make the screaming stop. I know it will with everything even and counted. Make it stop. With all of me here it can stop. All I have to do is make it even." Stretching her leg out she kicked a piece of the mirror toward her, an invitation to let the pain start.

Her mind rebelled against the offer, she might have come here to kill this woman but she wasn't going to torture her. The thought of it left nothing but the taste of bile in her mouth. "I'm not you! Get a grip!" She realized yelling at someone that was mentally derailed was utterly useless, every lesson and life experience told her just that, but at the moment she didn't care. "You are a psychopath! Not only are you a psychopath, you're the psychopath that killed my husband and tortured me!"

The other woman went into a rage as she tried to break through the delusion she was operating under. It was never good when you threw hammer like hits at such a fundamental idea of what life was. People rarely reacted calmly to it and Dana was no exception. "You're me! I was protecting myself!"

Screw this. She wasn't going to waist her time trying to reason with this woman. There was no reason to, no reason to let her live anymore, but there was every reason to kill her. Once Dana was dead she could breathe again, she would be able to live again, she would be able to sleep at night and not be afraid that she was going to be jumped or have McNorris murdered in front of her. Maybe if Dana was dead she would finally be able to let all of this go, maybe she would be able to let Jason go the way she was supposed to let him go instead of the way she had been. Maybe she could just be normal again, the way she was supposed to be.

"Fuck you." She didn't even bother to brace herself, she just pulled the trigger. The problem was she was already being shoved when the gun went off. She let out a shout and staggered farther into the open area as she shot went wide and flew over Dana's head.

"No!" David snapped as he clamped his arms around her and the gun flew out of her hand as he jostled her. It hit the cement with a clatter and she screeched in rage as she tried to claw at him.

"Let go of me!"

"Darcy, no!" He dragged her backward and she struggled and kicked at him and the air as Dana started to scream too. She was thrashing hard enough to throw them both off balance and they toppled back. McNorris hit his back on a box and they slid to the floor amid the glass. Struggling like crazy she tried to get to her gun, but he held her tightly and used his foot to kick it away from them. The weapon spun into the darkness beyond the harsh florescent light and she lunged at it. "Stop!" David yelled as she managed to get loose and hurl herself after it. A moment later and he had tackled her to the ground, pinning her with his body weight.

"Let go!" She screamed in rage. "Let me have her!"

"Not like this!" She thrashed and he got a stronger grip on her. "Darcy, not like this! Stop fighting me!"

"You don't know what she did to me!" She raged as she tried to wiggle away. Dana was still screaming and now she was yanking at her restraints, trying to get at them as hard as she was trying to get at her gun. "You weren't there!" Her voice broke as she snarled at the attorney. "She made me a monster in that basement! She took my life away and then she made me something horrible and sick like her! Just let me have her! Please!"

"You're not a monster!" David said raggedly. "I promise you're not a monster, baby doll. You're not." She let out a high-pitched whine of despair and thrashed below him even as she realized he wasn't going to let her up. "That's why you can't do this. You can't kill her when she's trapped like this. She's crazy, Darcy, and she's evil, but she can't make you that way unless you let her."

"You weren't there!" She wailed. "You weren't! Let go! I get to have her!"

"I'm not letting you ruin your life for this!" He wrapped his arm around her in a vice like grip and twisted to his knees, then he started to drag her back to the entrance.

"I hate you!" She shrieked as she started to kick and writhe, fighting him with the rage born of madness. "I hate you! Let go of me!"

"Let go of me!" Dana echoed, her voice rising even higher.

David growled as she gouged him with her nails. "Damn it, Darcy! Fine, hate me! I don't care! You don't get to do this! I'm not letting you ruin everything like this! Not for her! You're better than this!"

He was pulling her farther and farther away from what she wanted and she lost it. She kicked down and hit his knee dead on, the one she knew he favored. He let out a curse as his leg gave out from under him and they both tumbled to the ground. The impact had his arms loosening enough for her to escape and she surged forward. She had barely gotten her feet under her when his hand clamped over her ankle. He pulled her down with a sharp tug as she threw herself forward and she fell to the hard ground, impacting on her chest with enough force to stun her momentarily. She blinked as her head swam and Dana shrieked in total rage.

As the room came back into focus she saw Dana twist her wrist out of the cuff. Her eyes widened as she got herself loose and any thought of why the killer would cuff herself when she could get away vanished. The woman grabbed a piece of the glass and rushed them. Her eyes widened as David let out a shout of warning as he tried to drag her back to him.

She rolled to the side in an attempt to protect herself, but Dana hurtled past her and went at David. In a flash she knew Dana thought the DDA was here to hurt her the same way her husband had. She slashed at David with the glass and he raised his hand fast enough to stop the weapon from hitting his eyes. His hand was slashed open and he let out a shout as he tried to get out of the way or knock Dana down. Twisting as fast as she could she tackled the woman, hitting her in the midriff. They went flying away from David and she felt the glass sink into her arm before they tumbled away from each other. Dana rolled into a crouch and gripped the glass the way any trained knife fighter would hold a weapon, with the tip facing backward, the difference was the woman didn't care that the glass was digging into her own skin and gashing it open.

"You tricked me!" Dana hissed in rage as she lunged at her. "You're the weak part, not me!" Falling to her back she kicked the other woman in the ribs hard enough to have her staggering backward.

"Darcy!" David shouted as he came after her. "Get out of the way!"

She didn't come here to get out of the way. She'd be damned if she was scared away by a piece of glass. Jumping to her feet she faced Dana with a hiss. No sooner had she moved to lunge than David grabbed her again. His arm wrapped around her waist and he spun her backward as Dana came at them. She heard him snarl again and then she was being pushed backward toward the table as David put himself between her and Dana. She saw a line of blood along his shoulder blade and knew the woman had been aiming for her throat, she was sure David had just saved her life by hurling her out of her reckless charge.

He started herding her backward, limping badly as the woman swung at him with the glass. He grunted as she missed him by a hairsbreadth, the glass making a swishing noise as it cut through the air. The DDA found her side with his cut hand and shoved her backward hard, throwing her off balance enough to have her staggering away from the fight. As she tried to regain her balance David was trying to fend off Dana, clearly more interested in keeping them separated than the glass that was continually biting into his shirt and bare arms. The man was still in the loose clothing he wore to bed, an old t-shirt and pair of sweats, and she knew he must have bolted out of the house the moment he realized she was gone.

Suddenly his defensive posture shifted and he lashed out with a single, solid punch. He hit Dana across the face hard and she toppled backward with a shout of pain. The hit, that would have dropped a man twice as big as Dana was, didn't take her down. She figured her adrenaline was too high and she was simply too used to being smacked across the face. As she rolled to her feet she yelled at him. "You don't get to hit me anymore!"

"Just stay down!" He snapped.

She lunged at him with a shriek and David cursed, unable to twist away fast enough to avoid getting tackled with his hurt knee. They went flying backward and hit the table, sending it crashing away before smashing into the ground. David somehow managed to grab her arm before she could plunge the glass into his chest. He held the glass away from him as Dana tried to jam it forward and they went into a stalemate. Unable to look on she jumped forward and wrapped her arm around the psycho's neck, pulling her off David's chest even as she tried to squeeze the life out of her.

Dana hissed and then her elbow came back, nailing her in the face. She yelped and let go as she fell to the side. There was a confusing moment as Dana came at her and they tangled up in a ball of flailing fists, glass, and anger before they flew apart, their struggle sending them both spinning away from one another. Leaping to her feet she managed to block a hit as the woman came at her, grab her arm, and hurl her several feet away. Dana caught her balance deftly and turned to face her panting. "Why are you doing this? I can't kill myself! It won't even anything out!"

She heard David push himself off the floor with a grunt of effort as she and Dana circled one another. She licked her lip and tasted blood, the other woman had split her lip when she elbowed her, and watched the glass warily. She heard David trying to sneak up to separate them again and reacted, this was her fight not his. She flew at Dana and the attorney let out a cry as they went into a rapid series of movements. Unfortunately, Dana was even better at fighting than she was, her training had been much longer, and she got the upper hand within seconds. Shifting her weight the glass slid over her arm, cutting her sweatshirt more than anything, but sending her falling to the ground as the other woman kicked the back of her leg at the same time.

She let out a grunt and heard David rushing forward to help at the same time she caught sight of movement between the same line of shelves she had snuck down as she tilted her head around to get the psycho back in her sights. It took her a millisecond to identify Tanner with a gun pointed at Dana, and subsequently, her husband who was trying to help her.

She let out a barked cry. "David hit the deck!" The attorney dropped, not hesitating despite the situation, and she heard the gun go off. The bang was followed by a moment of silence before Dana fell lifelessly to the ground beside her, a bullet having passed through her forehead. Blood started to pool around her now smashed in head and she stared at her blankly before her rage was back.

David grabbed her from behind and tugged her away from the spreading blood pool as Tanner stepped closer and holstered his weapon. "You always find them, Darcy."

"Go to hell!" She spat, enraged that she hadn't been the one to kill Dana and equally angry that they had followed her here.

Tanner simply raised an eyebrow at her snarl and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. "Take her outside before she finds her gun and shoots one of us, McNorris. The paramedics should be here in a minute. Make sure they stitch you both up." David growled deep in his chest at the order and managed to get to his feet again, dragging her up when she simply sat there looking at Dana's body.

When she resisted, trying to work out how to even the score when the woman was dead, David shook her hard. "Get up!" She pressed her lips together and planted her feet. In moments she was on them and he was shoving her toward the exit. She could feel the rage rolling off him but didn't care in the slightest, she was too pissed off and now had absolutely nowhere to focus the anger except at him.

Author Note: Okay, I am really sorry this update took so long. My life went momentarily insane. I'll try to have the next chapter up Saturday at the latest. Leave me one!


	37. Prosecute: Month TwentySix

Disclaimer: I'm only playing in L.A. for a little while.

**37. Prosecute–Month Twenty-Six**

Scribbling down notes silently on the case Joel had brought her earlier in the afternoon she didn't even look up when his partner walked in. Lifting up the pages of the report she looked at one of the photographs for a minute before going back to her analysis. She heard the door click closed and glanced up to find Fearless settling himself in front of her desk. Watching him trying to get comfortable in the old vinyl chair she really thought they should consider getting bigger seating for those people that were larger than average. The detective never did appear to be comfortable sitting in the department. "Can we talk, sweetness?" He asked carefully.

Closing the report immediately she nodded. It was a rare day Fearless asked her for a counseling session, this would only be the second time, and she wasn't about to turn him away. God only knows what must have happened to prompt this. "Of course." She set the report down on her desk and gave him her full attention. "What do you want to talk about? Did something happen?"

"I'm sure something did." He searched her face. "Darcy, I haven't seen you smile in weeks. What the hell happened that night?"

She was too tired to even be angry that he was asking, that he was blatantly invading her personal life when he had no business to. She was tired of a lot of things. Tanner, Darren, and the other two agents had left six days ago. Her former boss had cleaned the scene, taken the body, and confiscated all the files on the case. It was like he had never existed, erasing all signs that they had been here after someone other than the knowledge that they had stopped by for a couple of weeks as they searched for her. Even the captain had no clue what had really happened, other than the terse report from Tanner that Dana was dead and the situation resolved, and the department was buzzing. That buzzing only increased when she walked in bruised and bandaged and word that McNorris was cut up and limping bad enough to need crutches ripped through the department.

That had been the same six days ago. Six days since Dana was killed, and not by her. Six days of thoughts of failure, rage, guilt, the feeling of incompletion, and the near positive assessment that she'd gone completely insane. Six days of cursing herself for not checking the damn Chevy for a GPS that McNorris had installed, because they lived in L.A. and eventually every car was jacked. Six days of silence between her and David, and six days since he'd started sleeping in the spare room. Six days of sleepless nights that were filled with her running holes in her sneakers as she tried to work out whatever the hell had taken her over and the rather sinking feeling that she couldn't get rid of it no matter what she did.

When they got home from the hospital, after spending four hours in angry silence in the emergency room, she had expected a shouting match, had wanted one, but it wasn't what she got. David had shut the door behind them, and limping to the garage had grabbed a box before he started to yank, tear, and rip every camera and recording device in the house out of their hiding places. She watched in shock as he practically tore holes in the wall and sent their possessions flying in every direction from the force. When he was done making a mess he had opened the front door and tossed the box out on the lawn before slamming it closed again. Then, without a word or a look in her direction, he'd limped past her and gone into his office, slamming that door too. She had been left in their trashed living room hurting, angry, and alone. They hadn't spoken at all since, moving around the house like the other didn't exist and sleeping in separate rooms. It had been, in a word, awful in every way.

She didn't want to talk about this with the detective. "Nothing happened."

"Yeah, and usually you can lie to me with more conviction too. I have a feeling most of the time I don't even notice it when you do."

"Nothing happened, Fearless." She reached out and pulled the report open again. "There's nothing to talk about."

He was quiet for a few seconds. "I can't help if you won't talk to me."

"I don't need help." She responded automatically as she started to go back over the images.

"I don't think you believe that."

She pressed her lips together. "I do believe that."

Fearless eyed her. "Do you really believe that or are you telling yourself that to keep it together?" She really hated when people figured her out. It pissed her off. "Talk to me, Darcy. You listen to me and my partner all the time, it seems time for me to listen back."

She sighed and set the folder back on her desk feeling the urge to talk to someone. McNorris wasn't so keen on it and confiding in Fearless would be a safe avenue. The man wouldn't betray her confidence. "I did something…" She struggled. "I don't know what I did, stupid isn't the right word. I don't know if there is a right word."

"Did it go down wrong? Catching that woman?"

"Yes." She fidgeted. "It all went wrong."

"You wanted to catch her alive?"

"No." She began to spin her wedding ring around her finger. "I didn't want to catch her alive."

Fearless must have seen something dark in her because he fell quiet for several moments. She fell into her own thoughts and the silence stretched for a long time before she finally broke it. "Fearless who do you see?" She didn't know why she asked him that, maybe it was because she felt like they needed to be on an even playing field before she would dare to bare her soul.

He went stiff all over. "What?"

"Who do you see?" She asked again. She had noticed his invisible friend a long time ago, maybe six or seven months after she started working here. She'd caught him talking to a corner and started to watch him after that. It took her a month, and an odd series of the episodes piled on top of each other during a stressful case to realize it wasn't a real problem. It wasn't something they needed to talk about, not something she needed to report or worry herself about. "I know you see someone. You talk to whoever it is."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

He couldn't lie to her. "Yes, you do. I'm not going to report it. If it were a problem Joel wouldn't let you do it."

There was another silence, but this one was shorter. "An old friend. His name was Freakshow. He was in my platoon."

"Were you with him when he died?"

"Yes." He was searching for something. "I know that makes me crazy-"

"I don't think that makes you crazy." She interrupted before he could go farther. "I think that means you have a coping mechanism that works very well for you. Sometimes I wish I could talk to my husband that way."

Unease rippled over his features. "McNorris is alive, Darcy."

"My first husband." She corrected.

He seemed genuinely surprised. "You were married before?"

"Not for very long." She had turned off her emotions again, her voice distant. "Dana killed him. The DNA you found on the scene was his. The ring that was on that woman's hand used to be mine. Dana was playing with me, she wanted me to find her." She twisted her ring again. "So I found her. I'm so good at finding things, Fearless. Finding things is really all I know how to do."

He ran his hand over his short hair. "You went to kill her?"

"Oh, yes." She answered, finding it oddly easy to say out loud. "David stopped me and then Tanner shot her while we were fighting."

"McNorris stopped you from killing her?"

"He won't even talk to me." Emotions were starting to ping on the edge of her awareness. "I think he'll leave me now."

She could tell Fearless was torn over which way to go with this overabundance of information, but he chose a direction quickly. "Do you have time to hear a story?"

If this had been anyone else she would have thought they were the ones that were insane, but this was Fearless, he talked in stories. Besides, it wasn't like she was in a hurry to get home. "I always have time for one of your stories."

"What do you know about Rottweilers?"

That threw her. "The dog?"

"The very one."

"I don't…" She searched her memories, she had never been a big pet person, other than the guinea pig she'd had when she was eight. "They're big?"

He smiled slightly. "Rottweilers have an interesting history. Now, most people think they were first bred in Rome and used as cart dogs and herders. They were bred to be strong and smart. As the Roman's expanded their territory they broke into Europe, and a little town there became a hub for their supply lines, they herder cattle to feed the armies and the colonies that rose up around the area. The place was called Rot Wile. I think you can work that part out on your own. Now, these dogs did real well for themselves for a long time, but all things end." She was fixated on him and his story, wondering how he had been granted such a gift and what this had to do with anything at all.

"One day cattle herding became illegal, because we're fickle things when it comes down to it, and you know as well as me that nothing stays the same forever." He shrugged, accepting people for what they were. "When that happened these dogs lost their purpose and nearly vanished, pushed out to the edge of usefulness. For a long time they hung on, kept alive by a human here or there, and then their luck changed again. Turned out these dogs were good at more than herding, they were damn good at protecting people. One day a policemen took notice of that and started using the dogs on the job. It worked so well the breed was picked back up again. Soon they were stable, and productive, and had a job to do. Sad thing about it is we changed again. They were so very good at guarding that the German army trained them to be war dogs."

"Now, what they fought for might not be right, but the dogs didn't know, didn't care. Thing about Rottweilers is that they latch onto a person, usually only one, and will do anything to protect them. Doesn't matter what it's from or why that person needs to be protected. It gave them a bad rap. Not just the wars, but that some of them were trained after to attack people here and across this country. That's not the dog's fault. It's not the dog's fault the person they're protecting has some strange ideas in their head. All they can do is stay close and protect them when it happens."

"Fearless, what are you driving at?

"Before you came here McNorris was a Rottweiler without anything to herd or protect. He never attached himself to anyone, never even wanted to. He was just hanging on the fringe of things looking for something to tear apart. You turned him on his head and expect him to adapt to it all at once. The man doesn't know what to do with you. He never had to deal with anything that actually mattered to him emotionally the way you do. All he knows is that he needs to protect you and he did what he had to in order to do that. Now you're expecting him know what to do in the aftermath."

"Is this your way of telling me I'm a commy, or are you trying to impart wisdom?" She shook her head. "I don't know what to do here. I don't know what you're trying to say."

"Sweetness, eyes up." She moved her gaze away from her ring and to his face. "You've got him cornered now. You need to tell him if he should fight or sit. He needs some sort of direct from you. If you don't give him one he'll maul you to death because he's confused. He's not going to leave you; he wouldn't know what to do with himself. It takes someone special to get a man like that loyal, it doesn't mean that loyalty won't ever be tested."

She turned that over in her head. "After I do that can I tell him you compared him to a poorly trained dog?"

He barked out a laugh. "I'd rather you didn't. As of now the two of us are on a good playing field. I'd like to keep it that way."

"You ruin all my fun." She said with far less perk than normal. "Thank you, it was a good story."

"All I did was tell it. You can thank the dogs for it."

"I suppose I should probably go talk to mine first."

He smiled at her and stood up. "If you need another story let me know."

"I will." She was surprised to find that she meant that. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. If nothing else get some sleep this weekend. You look like hell." What was it about the male species that always made them so damn honest? Seriously, some things could be left unsaid. With a sigh she put her things away and turned off her computer. She couldn't hide in her office all weekend and she couldn't live like this for very much longer. It was time to go home and get this sorted out. At the moment she didn't know if that meant she would be moving out but she needed to find out.

When she came in committed to ending this silence, and feeling buoyed by Fearless, McNorris was shoving a pair of sneakers in his gym bag. He didn't even look up at her as she walked into the bedroom. She stood silently next to the dresser for a moment as she thought about the best way to deal with this. Figuring there wasn't really a good way she simply started. "David?" He zipped the bag closed with a hard jerk and she felt guilt swamp her, her bravado vanishing. "Are you sure you should be going to the gym with your knee?"

His eyes snapped to her and she nearly flinched at the rage she saw there. "Now you're going to start worrying about me?"

Her stomach clenched. "I'm sorry I hurt you." She whispered. "I didn't mean to."

"Yes, you did." He said coldly. "You would have shot me to get at that woman."

She wasn't entirely sure he was wrong about that, but really didn't think she would have gone that far. "I wouldn't-"

"_Enough!_" He shouted, his voice rising fast and harshly, and this time she did flinch. "I'm not talking about this! I'm going to pretend it never happened! I'm going to try to forget you snuck out of this house to kill someone, and then tried to your damndest to get me out of the way when I came to save you from yourself!" He threw the strap of the bag over his shoulder. "I refuse to believe I married someone that would do something that insane! I refuse to believe that you would intentionally try to hurt me, or that you would have been more than happy to murder someone! We're never talking about this again! Do you understand?"

"David, you're my husband, if I can't talk to you about this who am I supposed to-"

"_Do you understand?_" He snarled as he locked his gaze with hers.

"Yes." She said, her voice cracking. "I understand." And she did. She understood very clearly that if she wanted to have any part of his life they would never talk about what happened to her, her past, or what she'd done again. At the moment she was so frightened of yet another abandonment, another period of loneliness, that she would have agreed to practically anything. She didn't want to loose someone else she loved when he was making it so very obvious what it was going to take for him to stay. And what he was asking wasn't even unreasonable considering what she'd put him through. At least he wasn't asking her to achieve the impossible the way everyone else she ever wanted had. He wasn't asking her to overachieve, do more than she'd ever been trained for, or walk into a situation that would most likely end with her hurt or dead. All McNorris was asking for was to pretend that she was normal, or at least relatively normal. Considering she had never wanted to talk about her past to begin with she found this a reasonable stipulation to keep their marriage together. "I won't talk about it again. I'm sorry about everything. Can we stop fighting?"

"I'll be back later." He replied as he turned and walked out of the bedroom and farther into the house. She stood still as he left and heard him shut the garage door behind him with a decisive snap. Her lip began to quiver like crazy at the refusal to even tell her he would think about it and she sank to the floor. So much for giving him some direction. She pressed herself between he wall and the dresser and pulled her legs up to her chest before she started to cry. Panic and disgust hit her at the same time and she curled up tightly as she tried to alleviate her stress. She was certain that when she woke up tomorrow he was going to be gone despite the detective's assessment and she would have to start all over again. It seemed that Dana had once again managed to destroy her life, and this time she knew she was at fault as well. She wasn't sure she had the will to do this anymore, not again. The thought, one darker than any she'd had in over two years, only had her more upset. Her cries turned to ragged sobs as she fought not to hyperventilate around her collapse.

Rocking slightly she felt her own nails digging into her legs and didn't care. The pain wasn't even really registering. What did register was the feeling of hands on her shoulders. Startled, she smashed herself backward as her head reared up. She saw a watery image of David as he lowered himself down beside her with his knee bent out awkwardly and she tried to get enough air to speak. He saw her struggling and tugged her onto his lap as he shushed her. "Don't cry, Darcy." He tightened his arms around her. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I didn't mean it." She felt his lips in her hair as his voice gentled, all trace of the rage he had shown a few minutes ago vanished completely. "Baby doll, don't cry." She slapped her hand over her mouth in an effort to muffle the noise and he caught it and held it away from her mouth. "I didn't mean you needed to stop yourself from breathing."

"Sorry." She cried out.

He rubbed her back reassuringly. "It's okay."

"I'm so fucked up." She managed. "I think I'm crazy, David."

"You're not crazy." He pulled her up straighter as she started to slump down. "You're not. You just got hurt and reacted to it. I should have known you were going to do something stupid. I would have done something stupid too, I should have been ready for it." He sighed. "God knows you would have been ready for it if the roles had been reversed."

So much for the moratorium on talking about this, it hadn't even lasted five minutes and Jesus she felt so awful. "I am crazy. She made me into something wrong. I want to be right for you."

"You're not wrong." He tried to assure her.

"I am." She wept. "You don't understand what she did to me. I used to be right and then she made something come awake in my head. I can't make it go back to sleep. I don't know what to do. I can't make it stop. I'm a trained clinical psychologist and I have no idea what to do. I need help." She was crying so hard she didn't know how he was understanding her. "Will you help me?"

He hugged her tighter and kissed her head. "I'll help you, baby doll."

She nodded into his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I did that, but I'm more sorry I didn't get to kill her. I'm angry you stopped me." David simply nodded at that, neither approving nor condemning. "But I didn't mean to hurt you. I wasn't thinking about anything but getting her. I couldn't think. I wanted it over." She shook her head. "You weren't supposed to be there."

"Okay."

"I don't know what to do to make this better. I don't want to live like this anymore. I miss you."

"I miss you too." He ran his hands over her. "We'll work this out. Everything will be all right."

She pressed into him even as she continued to cry. His reassurance that they were okay, or at least talking again, brought her more relief than she could say, and having him hold her was helping her settle further. It took her a long time to stop crying and when she finally stopped she was slumped against him, mentally and physically exhausted. His hand tangled in her hair and he rubbed her scalp gently. Lifting her arms she wrapped them around him as she hiccupped. Sniffing unattractively, she hid her face in his shoulder. "Will you move back in here with me?" She asked.

"Yes." He leaned back into the wall. "I'm sorry my temper got the better of me."

"I'm sorry I'm crazy."

"You aren't crazy." He repeated firmly. "I've seen crazy, you aren't it."

"You're still angry with me." It was a statement of fact, not a question.

He sighed even as he held her. "I'm going to be angry for awhile."

"I never wanted to ruin this. I wanted us to have a good marriage."

"You didn't ruin anything and our marriage isn't over." He leaned back into the wall. "I think we both need to calm down before we talk about this anymore." He rubbed her back. "Let's go watch one of your horrible movies and then get a solid nights sleep. I don't think either of us have had one in a while. We can finish this tomorrow when we're both thinking straight."

"Okay." She agreed.

"Okay." He urged her to her feet. "Go clean up, I'll be in the living room when you're done." She helped him to his feet and he limped out of the room a second time. She changed clothes quickly and went to the bathroom and washed her face. Once she was calm and her face was washed she followed him. He already had the movie starting and he lifted his arm as he sat on the couch. She sat down against him at the silent invitation and he curled his arm around her waist. It took them both a few minutes to relax but by halfway through the movie they were curled up companionably. Feeling better about everything than she ha din days she found his hand with hers and squeezed it gently. He twined their fingers together a moment later and turned his head so he could kiss her forehead. Twisting slightly she tucked her head on his shoulder. She had a feeling this was only a lull in the storm but she was going to take it. They could get back to the thunder and lightning later.


	38. Re Trial: Month TwentySix

Disclaimer:

**38. – Month Twenty-Six**

She was in the kitchen staring rather blankly at a glass full of soda. She hadn't touched it since she poured it in and was watching the bubbles hitting the ice cubes. Why she was staring at the glass when she could be doing anything else was up in the air but she figured her mind was trying to take a mental break. She was waiting for David to start this talk they were set to have, had thought they would try as soon as they woke up this morning, but as usual he wasn't set on following her timeline.

She supposed she should be grateful he had at least gotten in the same bed as her again. Hell, he had gone all the way to spooning up around her, although she admit she felt rejected when he didn't make any indication that he wanted to do anything but sleep. The platonic reaction to having her in the same bed as him was more than a little alarming to her knowing how he usually was with her. The only time he didn't try to cop a feel was when he was angry or so wound up he couldn't think about anything else. When he fell asleep first she tried to convince herself he was as tired as she was after so long without a normal sleep cycle, and that managed to get her to sleep. The feelings of rejection, insecurity, and nervousness returned when she woke up, having slept nearly to noon, to find herself alone.

Feeling tired and far too needy for her taste she got up and ready for the day. She found the house empty once she was dressed, and knowing she had to do something lest she fall off the ledge she was teetering so dangerously upon she went grocery shopping. The cupboards were getting pretty bare and she figured at least she would be full no matter what happened, because her conviction that he was going to walk out were growing by the moment despite what he'd said the day before. Two hours later she was back and everything was put away. McNorris still wasn't here and now she was staring at beverages as if they held the answers to all the world's mysteries. She heaved a sigh at what her life had boiled down to in the last few weeks, her best and only friend was an icy soda. While she thought this wasn't the worst companion ever, she knew it wouldn't talk to her, reassure her, or otherwise make her feel better sort of a quick caffeine hit. And if it did anything other than that it was a sure thing she'd lost her mind.

As she contemplated how thirsty she really was the garage door opened and she jumped at the sound. Her head twisted on her shoulders and David stepped inside with his gym bag in hand, his hands sporting tape marks, and his shirt half soaked with sweet. At least she knew where he had been for so long, at least he was back. She watched him warily and he set the bag down by the door before moving into the kitchen. He stopped about five feet away and leaned against the counter by the sink. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her, and she lost her nerve and turned back to her drink. "Are you feeling better today, baby doll?"

The use of her pet name had the knots in her stomach loosening, he never called her that when they were fighting, or when he was angry or annoyed. She nodded as she turned fully around and didn't see any anger in him. McNorris had gone into a more passive mode and she felt a lot better all at once. He wasn't in the mood to fight and she could tell he either had some sort of plan, or was at least open to talking. She wondered what had him letting the rage go, her breakdown or his time at the gym. She supposed she shouldn't question it either way and decided to ride on his better feelings toward her. "What do you need from me to fix this?" She was more than willing to be the one to give ground on this one. This was entirely her fault.

"I need to know why you went after her alone. I need to know why you lied to me." She saw the hurt then, and the resentment over what could only be seen as lying and betrayal. "I would have helped you find her."

"Tanner would have taken her in alive if he could have."

"And you wanted her dead?"

"Yes." She admitted without hesitation. "I wanted her dead. I'm glad she's dead." She struggled with herself for a moment before going totally honest with him. "I would do the same thing again if I had the chance. I would make sure you didn't follow me though. I would be sure I was the one that shot her."

"You would have been put in prison." He pointed out.

"No one would have caught me except for you and you never would have turned me in." She knew it was true and it seemed he did too if she were any judge of his expressions and character. "I would have covered everything up. I know how to get rid of evidence." She shrugged. "You know it isn't hard if you know what you're doing."

Ghost boy was at a loss. "You really would have killed her."

She thought that was pretty damn obvious considering the scuffle they had in that warehouse. "Yes, I would have."

He rubbed his hand over his hair, ruffling it up. "I don't know what to say, Darcy. How do you expect me to feel about this? That you would have murdered her if you could have? If I had been half a second later you would have."

She thought she might cry again and she didn't want to do that. As upset as she was she thought he might view that as a form of manipulation and that was the last thing she wanted. Looking at the floor she thought about the best way to answer. "I don't know what I expect. If I were you I would leave and not come back. I don't know what you want me to say." She turned her gaze up again so he could see her face. "I wasn't thinking about anything but getting her. There was never any thought about what would happen after." Her voice was getting ragged. "I had to end it, David. I had to stop her before she got me again. I had to get her before she got you. I know you know what it's like to be hurt, but you don't know what it's like to be held down and tortured wishing you were dead because at least that would make everything stop. You don't know what it's like to watch someone you love shot in front of you."

A single tear fell down her cheek as she spoke. "I loved Jason so much. He was the first person I ever met that didn't make fun of me for being so smart or use me because of it. Even my parents used me in their own way; they would show me off and make me perform for a crowd. Jason just loved me for being me and it was wonderful." Another tear trailed down her cheek. "And then she took him away from me and hurt me in ways you can't even begin to imagine. The only thing that made anything better when I woke up in the hospital was knowing she was dead, that I killed her, that it was me that stopped a monster. That was the only thing that kept me from loosing my mind." She paused again. "It was the only thing that got me through the pain and the rehabilitation. It was the only thing that got me to do anything at all." She wiped her cheeks quickly. "When Tanner told me she was still alive it was like I was back in that basement again. She would have killed you, ghost boy." She knew that was true. If Dana had gotten away from her, if she hadn't gotten what she wanted, McNorris would have been her next stop. "I never expected to love anyone again after what happened. I didn't want too, but you wiggled your way into my life and I thought it was safe because she was gone." Unsure of what he was thinking she shifted her weight yet again. "I could live with being a murder, David, I couldn't live with letting her kill you too." She floundered rather horribly. "I was afraid. I'm still afraid."

The disgust he had been trying to hide when he realized how committed she was to killing Dana vanished. It had been replaced with understanding and worry. "You should have let Tanner get her."

"I was afraid she would get away from him again."

He nodded. "She probably would have." Uncrossing his arm he held his hand out to her and she took it quickly. He pulled her gently until they were standing next to one another with the counter at their backs. He was quiet for a few moments before he spoke. "Thank you for being honest with me."

"You're welcome."

"Now it's my turn to be honest with you." She nodded as her stomach sank. She waited silently for the knife to fall. "I don't think I can help you the way you need to be helped."

So he was leaving her then. "Oh."

"I made a few calls this morning. I found a psychologist I think you should start seeing." What? "He specializes in trauma and torture victims. His name is Brian Liebert. He told me he could work you in on Thursday."

"You made me an appointment with a psychologist?" She asked in disbelief.

"I promised you I would help you." He squeezed her hand. "But I don't know how to do that, not the way you need. I'm a lawyer for a reason, and let's face it you're the only one of us that's any good at dealing with emotions. If he's even half as good as you are then I think this will help you a lot. I think you should have seen someone two years ago after this happened the first time. I don't like you being afraid all the time and I know you are. You were still having nightmares even before she came here after you again. If he can do something for you then you need to go."

He was right about all of that. "I'll go."

"I want you to go because you think it's a good idea, not to pacify me. If you don't think this is what you need I want you to tell me now. I'm not the kind of person that can go into a room and talk to a stranger about the things that happened to me, if you're the same way then I understand. If you would rather talk to me then we can do that, but I'm not sure I can respond to what you'll tell me the way you need me to." He met her eyes and squeezed her hand again. "So tell me what would be better for you."

"I'll go." She repeated.

"Okay, I have all the information on him in the office. You can be sure he's the one you should go see. I'm only going on a recommendation, you're the expert."

"Whose recommendation?"

He sighed in annoyance. "Hirsch."

Despite the whole situation they were discussing her lip twitched like crazy. "You called Michael?"

"He is a psychiatrist."

Her lip twitched harder. "You called Michael because he's the best didn't you?"

David wasn't thrilled with her amusement, but she felt normality returning all at once. "No, I called Hirsch because he's the only one that even comes close to competing with you. Now stop rubbing it in. It was a horrible thing to have to do. You're lucky I love you."

"I am." She went serious again. "Did you tell him I was the one that needed to see this man?"

"No, I told him I had a client I thought needed some help."

She wished Michael weren't as smart as he was at that moment. "So he knows it's for me then?"

David sighed. "Most likely."

"At least he won't say anything to anybody." She figured Michael would let this go, pretend David had never called, never mention anything about this again. "Thank you for calling him. I know how much you hate asking him for anything."

"It was for you." He said, as if that meant it hadn't bothered him at all even though she knew he had to swallow his pride to even think about asking Hirsch anything, let alone for a favor, because she knew well enough that if she had been worked into the doctor's schedule in less than a week some sort of favor had been called.

"You're a good friend, ghost boy."

Letting her hand go he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. She twisted so she was in front of him and wrapped her arms around his waist in a loose hug as she set her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad your safe, baby doll. You scared the hell out of me."

"I'm sorry."

"I know." He kissed the top of her head. "I think we should both agree to let this go. It's not doing anything but upsetting either of us."

While that might be her greatest wish she saw a slight flaw in the plan. "I may have to bring this up later. I'm not sure what this psychologist will want me to do in therapy."

"Talking about it and letting it go are two separate things."

That was true she supposed. "I would like that."

"Me too." He admitted quietly as he ran his hand over her back and set his cheek on the top of her head. She tightened her arms around him and they stood there for a few minutes breathing each other in. David was the first to move and he lifted his head and kissed her cheek. "We've been holed up in this house or work for weeks. Let's go out somewhere."

That sounded really great. "Where do you want to go?"

He thought about that for a minute. "We haven't been to the pier in a long time. Why don't we go down there?"

"That sounds nice." She moved out of his embrace reluctantly. "How long will it take you to get ready?"

"Ten minutes." He ushered her toward their bedroom. "Faster than you even if I do have to take a shower."

"Is that a challenge I hear?" She asked teasingly.

"It might be." He replied, his eyes twinkling.

"Oh, it's on, ghost boy." He barked out a laugh as she made a dash for their room. He chased after her and the race was on. He only beat her by fifteen seconds but she blamed him for a thirty-second distraction when he got handsy; that really clinched it for him.

When they walked in the door hours later, happily worn out from the sunshine and sea air, David picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. She laughed cheerfully, relaxed and content again after their date. She had a wonderful time with him and she figured he had just as much fun because he had flirted and joked with her the whole time they were out. Somewhere, about an hour in, everything had shifted to what they used to be. It seemed ghost boy wanted to make that official by getting her naked as he carried her to their bed.

"That was fun, Darcy, let's have some more."

She snickered at his lecherous tone. "You really only think about one thing don't you?"

"No, I just come back to it over and over again between thinking about other things."

Her snickers turned into full-blown belly laughter as he walked her into the bedroom. "You're rotten, McNorris."

"I agree." He said amicably as he flipped her over and tossed her onto the mattress. She grinned and reached for him eagerly. He was already right next to the bed and grabbing at the bottom of her shirt. He paused as she undid his belt and glanced around. "Are you sure the cameras are all gone?"

She grinned up at him as she tugged the leather out of his pant loops. "One hundred percent sure."

"Excellent." He yanked her shirt up and off her, dislodging her hands as he did so. "That means we can get as loud as we want."

"That sounds promising." She said as she got the fly of his pants open. He growled down at her and then tugged on her shoulders. Getting the less than subtle hint she sent him a smoky smile and slid off the bed and onto her knees. "Want me to make you get loud first, ghost boy?"

His hand tangled in her hair as she opened his pants and he held onto her shoulder with the other. His eyes were locked on her as she pulled him out and he muttered under his breath the minute she touched him. His fingers tickled her scalp and she rose up a little on her knees before taking him into her mouth. "God, Darcy." He groaned as she rolled her tongue. He groaned and did his best to restrain himself as she drove him crazy. She really didn't do this all that often and she could tell he never wanted to try his luck when she did, so he behaved himself as best he could. His low muttered curses and the slight tightening of his fingers in her hair were as far as he was going to go. She looked at him from under her lashes and he let go of her hair and grabbed at her shoulders. He pulled her off the floor and she didn't manage to keep her balance as he picked her up and put her on the bed. "I would love for you to go back to that later." He stated, and she took that to mean she was too hot to resist at the moment, it really was a morale boost.

She smirked at how eager he was to have her. Usually he could last, but not right now. That had her lust ratcheting up and she sat up long enough to pull her shirt over her head. David was ripping his own clothes off and then he was crawling into bed with her. He nipped at her neck once before finding her lips and kissing her hard. She wrapped her arms around shoulders and he slid his hand under her back and slid her farther up on the bed.

Lifting her leg she crooked it up and wrapped it over his leg. He sucked on her bottom lip before letting it go. "Why are you still wearing clothes?"

Her eyes twinkled. "You haven't taken them off me yet."

"How silly of me." He lifted himself off her and his legs went on either side of her legs as he reached down to unbutton her pants. A moment later and he was tugging

at the denim and she lifted her hips to help him. He grabbed her panties as he went and when she was left in nothing but her bra he pounced back down on her. She giggled at him; feeling like she was a teenager necking again, and he popped the clasp on her bra quickly. Slipping the straps off her arms he tossed the fabric over his shoulder and she saw it hit the standing lamp in the corner. It hung there precariously and she was distracted by the fabric swinging, wondering how he managed to have the strap catch on the small knob and he looked over his shoulder to see what she was looking at. When he saw it he rolled his eyes. "Do you think you could focus for me?"

"It's always want, want, want with you. What are you? Six?"

He kissed her to make her be quiet; at least she was pretty sure that's why he did it. When he lifted his head his eyebrow was raised. "I'm seducing you and you are looking at a lamp with more interest than me."

"Well perhaps if you were debauch me properly, instead of with all the grace and decorum of an excited moose, I might be looking at you. However, I would like to point out that you glow as brightly as the bulb when you stand out in the sun, you're both so white and shiny." He stared down at her, his expression dry. "It's really a toss up for me."

Lowering his head he whispered into her ear. "Darcy, I haven't had you in over a week. I don't know if you're crazed or driving me insane on purpose, but you're really driving me crazy."

Snickering at him, she caught his face and pulled his lips down to hers. "It's on purpose." She told him.

He growled and kissed her again. This time she focused fully on him and he nudged her legs encouragingly. Figuring it would be to her benefit to help him out and cradled his hips with her legs. He deepened his kisses and pushed against her eagerly. Letting go of his face she reached between them and positioned him. He pressed inside her quickly and she let out a low moan. David sighed in satisfaction and when he bottomed out in her he went still. Propping himself on one arm he slid the other up and cupped her face. "I knew it." He murmured before he kissed her again. "Love you."

That had her getting even wetter and she rolled her hips. "Love you too." She ran her hands over his back. "Make me scream, ghost boy." He smirked and began to move. She let out a whimper of pleasure and hooked her leg over his. Reaching down he hooked his arm under her opposite knee and pushed it up at the same time he thrust forward. It pushed him in deeper than before and he choked on a breath. She could tell he was proud of himself for that and began to move faster. Her nails dug into his lower back as she dragged him closer and he let out a grunt at the sting. Twisting his hips in retribution had her gasping as he drove her up. "Yes!" She hissed.

"What was that?" He asked gruffly. "I didn't hear you."

"Yes." She panted.

He twisted his hips and mocked her teasingly. "Louder, Darcy." He kissed her briefly and their bodies slid together slickly. "Scream."

"Make me." She challenged.

He twisted his hips again and she jerked. "Say that again?"

Her eyes locked on his and she saw the glint of lustful satisfaction in his eyes. She responded to that by squeezing her inner muscles around him. He cursed and the hand on her calf tightened. "Make me." She repeated. Growling at her he pressed into her harder and she bit her lip to stop herself from letting out any noise.

"That's cheating." He panted.

"There are rules now?" The question ended on a gasp.

His head feel to her shoulder and he laughed breathlessly as he continued to move. "I have yet to meet a rule that applies to you." He kissed her shoulder. "I'm going to make you scream before this is over."

She was very sure that was true. Her body was starting to tighten up and she clutched at him harder. "David!" She whined. Lifting his head he gazed down at her as he felt her loosing control. Lifting her head up she kissed his shoulders more than a little frantically. He clutched at her leg harder and lost his pace completely. He started to get tense as he fought off the inevitable. His jerky movement set her off and she threw her head back on the pillow and arched against him with a cry. The second he heard it he let go too and the sound of her name killed her ears as he flatted himself over her. They pressed against one another for several seconds as pleasure crashed through them and they finally went slack.

Panting happily she kept her leg wrapped around him as he tried to catch his breath. Reaching up she ran her hand through his hair, ruffling it up, content with where they were. He shifted and kissed her cheek before rolling off her. Grumbling at him had his lip twitching up in amusement for a moment. Reaching over he tugged her against his side and ran the tips of his fingers over the bare skin of her shoulder after she cuddled up against him. "We need to decide when we're going to go to Salt Lake."

Shifting her head she gazed up at him. "You still want to take me?"

"Of course I still want to take you." He said that as if she had asked an utterly ridiculous question. "Mary e-mailed me a few days ago about her schedule. I think if we take off a Monday and a Friday we can make it a long weekend."

"Don't you want to visit longer than that?" Four days with airfare really wasn't that long. It only gave them two full days and they would be traveling most of the rest of the time.

"Yes, but you have less vacation time than me and I want to meet your parents sometime this year."

That had her momentarily speechless because he sent her spiraling in an entirely different direction. "You want to what?"

"Meet your parents."

She shot that idea down before he could go any farther with it. "No."

He frowned. "Embarrassed by me?"

"No." She said at once, that thought had never even crossed her mind. "I don't want to see my parents, not anytime in the near future, and I certainly don't want to subject you to that type of insanity."

He raised an eyebrow. "If you can deal with my father dropping in out of the blue I think I can take your parents when we go for a visit."

"No, David."

"We're going before you get pregnant." He stated, leaving no room for argument. "I want them to know who I am."

She fussed at him but it had no effect. Finally, she gave in and told him what she was thinking. "They really aren't going to like you at all."

That had him barking out a laugh. "And why's that?"

She listed off the reasons. "I like you, you're a lawyer, you won't have anything in common with them, you play politics, and you're a manipulative bastard." She would have thrown alcoholic on the list even if he was clean now, but she had no intention of letting her parents know that about him. It was none of their business unless he decided to tell them that. "Plus, once again, I don't want to see them."

He seemed to find all her reasons to his liking, ignoring the last one entirely. His eyes were shinning with amusement. "Why would it bother them that you like me?"

"My mother thinks I have a horrible fondness for brutish thugs. When she finds out I went from a marine intelligence officer to a street fighting DDA she's going to flip out." There was a pause before he threw his head back into the pillow and laughed. She rolled her eyes and started to sit up. "I'm glad you're amused."

Grabbing her around the waist he pulled her back with a playful growl. She yipped at the sudden move and he tossed her back over the blankets before rolling on top of her. "I look forward to your mother disliking me as much as my father disliked you. We'll be even that way."

She sent him a dry look. "You are so weird, ghost boy."

He smirked and nibbled at her ear. "Mother-in-laws are supposed to dislike their son-in-laws. That's a natural part of the human social structure in western culture. I promise not to make you stay long. One day, just long enough to meet them."

"Okay, throwing around fake anthropology to win an argument is not going to fly."

He moved his lips down to her neck, making a warm trail that had her body flushing. "It's not fake. I'm sure someone somewhere wrote a paper about it. I'll find it for you later when we aren't in the middle of a mating ritual."

That had her laughing and he smiled into her skin. "Have you noticed that our mating rituals never end after the actual mating? We always end up in round two or three. I blame you and your horniness."

"Me and _my_ horniness?" He asked as his hand slid between her legs. "You can't blame this on me when you keep jumping me."

"What?" She laughed out.

"Don't blame yourself, I know I'm irresistible."

"Oh, bullshit, David." She said as she wiggled, his fingers are really doing a number on her. "I'm clearly the irresistible one in this relationship."

"And how do you come to that conclusion?"

She tried to think as he teased her. "You were the one chasing me for over a year, not the other way around."

He thought about that for a half a second. "You let me chase you on purpose because you wanted me."

"That is most convoluted thing I've ever heard. You're just trying to make me the bad guy."

"I'm most certainly not trying to make you a guy, but you are bad. Naughty woman."

She bated his hand away so she could argue properly. There was no way to outthink him when he was rubbing her toward an orgasm and they both knew it. "You admit I'm the irresistible one or this mating ritual will not end in said mating."

He huffed at her as he tried to weasel his way out of that. He tried to put his hand back and she caught it. "You can't use your feminine whiles to win an argument."

Please, she did it all the time. "It seems as if I can." She said as she shifted and rubbed against him. Moving her head she whispered into his ear. "Admit it and we can continue." She bit his ear. "Surrender to me, you know you want to, ghost boy."

"You know I don't like to loose, baby doll."

"Don't view it as loosing." She said, intent on winning. "I mean, you get to have sex with me again if you say I'm right." He huffed in annoyance and glared down at her. She smirked up at him and tangled her hand in his hair, pulling his face closer to hers. When they were a millimeter apart she whispered into his mouth. "Come on, tell me I'm pretty."

He studied her for a second and then she saw him go shrewd. "You're more than pretty." He kissed her lightly, his lips barely brushing hers. "You're drop dead gorgeous."

She smiled at that, but knew that wasn't what he had to say for her to win. "Irresistibly gorgeous." She stated, preening.

"Gorgeous." He agreed.

She wasn't giving up that easily. She titled her hips so she could tease him. "Irresistibly gorgeous?" She prompted.

He growled and kissed her again. She raised her eyebrow and he grumbled as he gave in. "Irresistibly gorgeous." He said glumly.

She smiled brilliantly and he rolled his eyes. Snickering, she wrapped her legs around his waist and cooed at him. "So sweet to your wife." She kissed him and he grumbled into her mouth even as he got hard again. "Your irresistible wife is now even more in love with you than before and willing to bend whichever way you want." She pecked his cheek. "One day after we see your sister." That pacified him and he let the loss to her go as he flipped her to her back. She laughed into the blankets and lifted her rear end for him. This was so much better than before. This was how things were supposed to be, and as soon as they finished this she was sure they would go back to planning family things. She really hoped that it was the most important thing they talked about for a very long time.

Author Note: Stress = poor writing Had to wait till I was better, sorry."


	39. Closing Remarks: Month ThirtyOne

Disclaimer: For the last time on this one, not mine.

**39. Closing Remarks –Month Thirty-One**

Ignoring McNorris she folded the newspaper crisply and continued to read as she sat stretched out on the couch. "Are you listening to me?" He asked annoyingly. Saying nothing she lifted the paper higher so he couldn't see her face. Even unable to see him she could sense him rolling his eyes. "You know the silent treatment has no effect on me whatsoever." That was a falsehood. It always worked when she wanted to punish him, and right now she was miffed beyond reason. "Darcy, this is ridiculous."

"I disagree." She said, breaking her three hour-long silence, not that he'd noticed she was purposefully ignoring him for the first two. "You've betrayed my trust in the most hideous manner I can imagine."

"Because I talked to your mother?" He asked in disbelief.

"You did not talk to my mother." She said as she turned the paper over with a snap of her wrist. "You _talked_ to her. Do you have any idea the conversation I had with her this morning to diffuse the situation? Do you? What is _wrong_ with you? You are my husband. You're job is to protect me from dangerous and perilous things, and look what you've done. You've set my mother loose on me. She didn't even know how to contact me for nearly three years and in less than three months you've found a way to help her sabotage my life. I don't love you anymore."

He let out an exasperated sigh at her dramatic flair, but could see there was really no way to get out of this with her. She'd shoved him into a no win scenario, on purpose. "I've already told you I was sorry-"

She refused to be pacified by petty apologies. "You are a highly educated and seasoned defense attorney, and you couldn't avoid a simple question from an industrial chemist?"

"Your mother is a smart woman. I think it might be good for your relationship if you listened to her on occasio-"

She lowered the paper and eyed him dangerously. "Do you really want to finish that sentence? Think hard." He huffed and sat down on the couch, grabbing her feet as he settled himself and stretching them over his lap. He started to massage them and some of her annoyance faded away, not that she would let him know that, so she grumbled at him. "I can't believe you told her we were trying to get pregnant."

"It slipped out." He said, trying to defend himself. "She's even sneakier than you are. I don't now how she got it out of me." He was genuinely confused. "I don't even know how it came up."

She muttered unhappily as she decided there was nothing at all interesting in the paper left for her to read, although the crossword looked fun this week. "You're not allowed to answer the phone when I'm not here anymore. I see what I get for being a good person and running errands, even though it was your weekend to pick up our dry cleaning. Stabbed in the back by my true love."

He went after that at once. "I thought you didn't love me anymore?"

"I thought you were trying to get out of trouble?" She retorted as he tried to weasel a victory with word play.

His lip twitched. "I'm never out of trouble with you."

"Truer words were never spoken." She agreed as she started to look around for a pencil. "Anything else the two of you discussed that I should be aware of? I have to prepare myself for future attacks, and at what point did you two become girl friends?"

"Do you have to exaggerate everything?" He asked.

"You two are chatting like fifteen year old school girls on the phone and you feel I'm exaggerating?" She asked as she gave up on the pencil and tossed the paper on the coffee table. She supposed her lack of writing material was his fault too. Every time she left a pen on the table he would pick it up and put it away. It was like a constant battle that she could never seem to win. It didn't even bother him that he had to keep moving things. There was no way to succeed against such oblivious disinterest.

"Yes."

"Do you know she was trying to give me tips? She was talking positions, David. My mother was discussing intimate sexual postures with me, and giving me personal and detailed accounts from her own experience, and not all of those involved my father. I'll have to start seeing my therapist twice a week again. Is that what you want? An even more traumatized wife?"

She could tell he was pleased that she was now relaxed enough to joke about her own issues even as they bickered. It had been rough for her, them really, for a while there. The first session after she met Dr. Liebert she had come back home shaken, exposed, and in need of something stronger than caffeine. She had refrained from drinking, but David had come back from a late meeting to find her curled up on the corner of the couch staring blankly at the wall. He'd called to her several times without a response before crouching down and touching her hand. He had scared her so badly she had nearly punched him in the face. He had managed to avoid the hit, just barely, and calm her down. She could tell he wasn't overly pleased with her mindset and looked ready to tell her to find a new therapist, but she saw the value of what was happening even if she was having a bad reaction. She was going to be reacting badly regardless of whom she talked to and Brian knew what he was doing, she could tell. The following sessions had been just as unsettling, but she knew the man was helping her, she could see it in the way she was relaxing again, and she and David had slowly gotten back to their normal existence.

A few months into her treatment he suggested she bring David with her to a session. Needless to say, she had hesitated. It was one thing to share things with a psychologist that specialized in torture victims and was confidentially bound to keep her secrets private; it was another to let her husband in on the gory details, something she'd been avoiding their entire relationship. When he pointed out that the lack of communication was what caused the majority of her marital problems to begin with she had reluctantly agreed. She knew how badly she had damaged what she and David had, she did want to make it right, and if this would help she would do it. When she had broached the subject with ghost boy one morning over a granola bar and coffee he had seemed shocked that he was invited, but had taken time off to go with her.

The hour they'd spent in the office had been unsettling, uncomfortable, and all around horrible. She had told David, in excruciating detail and with her eyes on the ceiling, what had been done to her and the psychological games she had been forced to play with Dana to stay alive. He had been quiet throughout the story and only spoke when Brian asked him a question. However, midway through her tale he had reached out and taken her hand gently in his as she spoke.

When their time was up they stood to go before Brian told David he was welcome to come back if she felt comfortable enough to ask, and if he ever had any questions he was a phone call away. The DDA had nodded in understanding, thanked him, and they had left. As they drove home she supposed she should be grateful that at least this time she didn't vomit from the stress. About halfway home she managed to pull herself together enough to talk again. "Thank you for coming. I know you don't like talking about things like that with strangers, or therapy in general."

He found her hand with his. "Thank you for inviting me. I know that was hard for you. I couldn't have done that."

"Yes, you could have." She whispered. "You told me what happened to you a long time ago."

"Not like that." His thumb ran circles over her hand. "Do you need anything right now?" He asked, unsure of what the appropriate thing to do was at the moment. She thought it was sweet that he asked since she knew full well he wasn't good with things like this, hence the therapist.

"The hand holding is good." He squeezed her hand again and she managed a small smile. He tugged her gently and she ended up leaning against him as he drove. Since that session they had been a lot better. Any tension that had still been between them had dissipated and ghost boy had been nothing but sweet and gentle with her for several days after. She had responded to that so positively that he had carefully prodded her forward to the more normal things he wanted them to do together. So they had started planning trips and had gone to see his sister and her family, as well as her parents.

The trip to Salt Lake had been a real blast. Mary was as crazy as ghost boy in her own soccer mom way, and had her reeling with the stories she told her about the DDA in his younger years. David had come back from what he termed, 'an uncle outing', which she interpreted as spoiling the children rotten, with his two nieces to find both of them in hysterics. He refused to leave her alone with Mary again. Well, actually he refused to leave her alone with Mary after she asked him about his misadventure with his older brother, a water hose, and the sewer grate. He had glared daggers at his sister and opened his mouth, no doubt to say something vulgar, when his tiny niece Kate tackled him with a hug and innocently asked him to tell her the story. He had sent them one last glower before picking the four-year old up and carrying her to the living room and the pile of toys that were there. He watched them suspiciously from where he sat on the floor next to Kate and Lila's dollhouse for the rest of the evening while Mary told her more tales in a low whisper so the children, and David, couldn't overhear.

Really, they had a wonderful time and McNorris even got along with Mary's husband. Considering he was really the lone wolf type that surprised her, but it was hardly an unpleasant discovery that when he wasn't in contact with his father the DDA was heavily family oriented. Watching David with his two nieces had her heart melting more than a little too. He was good with Lila, adapting to her needs with ease, and her younger sister Kate pretty much fell in love with him and all the attention he was showering on her. The little girl was constantly following him around or crawling into his lap, and ghost boy ate it up. Mary had caught her watching them interact more than once and a knowing look had taken over her expression, although she kept her opinions on that to herself. They left with a great deal of hugging and a promise to come visit them in L.A. soon.

Two months after that trip David had managed to bully her into calling her parents. She had dug in her heels for nearly two weeks before she gave in, and even then it had been a rather violent struggle to get her to relent. Finally, she had picked up the phone and dialed home for the first time in years. Her mother had answered and then promptly started crying hysterically when she heard her voice. She had never felt so guilty in her life. David must have seen the look of near panic on her face at him being here for that because he had kissed her forehead before leaving the room quietly to let her sort this out on her own. Two hours later and she had hung up after promising to visit in a few weeks, telling her mother where she was, informing her father she had remarried, and assuring both of them she was safe and healthy.

The trip to Wisconsin had been far more stressful than the one to Utah. Other than the obvious reasons she really was worried her parents would dislike David. She had flat out prepared him for it with a long series of suggestions, stories, and things he should try to do, and he had listen to her with an unusual amount of forbearance before telling her to relax. It turned out all her worry was for nothing; by some strange miracle her mother was as smitten with her husband as Kate was.

She had watched them interacted with near paranoia, thinking she was on drugs or an alien had taken her mother's place. The only thing that reassured her was her father's ambivalence toward McNorris. She thought if they were both crazy about him something was really going on. The three-day trip was at least tolerable for her, because she had always had issues with her parents and even the circumstances of her coming home could get rid of them, and the meeting had made David more than happy, as if he equated the introduction with her total devotion to him. She figured if it made him that content she should be grateful and move on. What she wasn't grateful for was the chatting that was happening between David and her mother when she wasn't home. Okay, it didn't really make her unhappy; it was just slightly irritating that her own mother seemed to like McNorris more than her. Not that she and her mother had the best relationship in the world, but really. She would admit to a tad bit of jealousy over the whole matter, but was unwilling to confess to it even as David volleyed back dryly.

"I highly doubt that traumatized you."

"What do you know? Are you a psychologist? Do you have any idea the amount of emotional damage I just underwent? I'll have to bury the memories or hope I get low grade amnesia." She pointed to the vase on the table and bent her head forward. "Hurry, hit me with the knick knacks and make me forget."

"I wish I married someone with a decent sense of humor."

"Hey!" Scooting forward she half tackled him into the side of the couch in retribution and he laughed and grumbled at the same time, it was really an amazing feat. She started to poke at him. "Admit I'm funny!"

He grabbed at her hands as they played. "I promised not to lie to you."

"Ahh! Mean!" Her attack got more aggressive and he barked out a laugh before using his size to his advantage. Flipping her easily he tossed her over the couch cushions and laid over her. Leaning down he kissed her as he caught her hands.

She laughed at him and kissed him back and he leaned to the side so he wasn't crushing her. He waggled his eyebrows as he gazed down at her. "We could try to make a baby now and then I wouldn't have to keep secrets from your mother."

"No thanks." She replied in a chipper voice. "Don't want to waist my time."

"For heaven sakes, Darcy, just forget what she said." He leaned down and nibbled at her neck encouragingly. "This isn't supposed to be stressful."

"Oh, this from the man? You think growing a person is just an easy thing? Or perhaps you're referring to the delivery process. You know it's not like a pizza, thirty minutes or less or it's free. Do you have any idea how freaky and painful childbirth is? Have you stopped to consider that I will get fat as I incubate? All you have to do is have a good time. I'm the one that's doing all the work."

He sighed dramatically at her. "I feel like I'm working rather hard at the moment-"

She thwacked him in the ribs lightly, cutting him off. "You know what? You're lucky I'm already pregnant because at the rate you're going you'll never get another shot. You better hope you supplied the goods on this one."

His head jerked up. "What?"

His look of stupefied shock didn't deter her rambling in the slightest. "I said you better hope you supplied top of the line sperm. My egg was totally perfect, I grew it with special thought and consideration, you better not have messed it all up."

Ghost boy suddenly did a very odd sort of push up, nearly toppling off the couch as he took all his weight off her mid section. "You're pregnant?" He asked, his voice oddly strained.

She titled her head at him. "I do believe that was our intended goal. They shoot, they score." She thought about that for half a moment. "You know what? Actually no sports metaphors when referring to the tadpole, it's just weird. I don't think the baby deserves to be bombarded by gender stereotypes before it even develops into its intended gender."

Ghost boy ignored her as she set up some very serious ground rules. "We've only been trying for two months."

"Well apparently we only needed to try for that first one."

He shook his head slightly, as if he had water in his left ear or something. "You're already two months pregnant?"

"No, about five weeks." She saw his breathing change and frowned. "David? Why are you upset? I thought you wanted a baby."

"I did, I do." He corrected at once, and she realized he was having some sort of cross between sheer and total panic, joy, and excitement. It was clear to her all at once that David had never really thought this would happen, as if it was just one of those crazy dreams people have that they never got. The poor man had no idea how to react to this news. "You're pregnant?" His voice was tinged with disbelief as he asked her again.

She softened toward him as she reached up and cupped his cheek. "Yes, I'm pregnant. I went to the doctor last week to be sure."

He glared at her accusingly. "You said you had a meeting."

"I did, with my OBG." She smirked in delight at his reaction. This was far more fun than she anticipated. "She agreed that my condition could no doubt be called pregnancy brought on by very good sex." She nipped at his lower lip as she said that and he puffed up as if to say, 'of course it was good'. "Now you get to say something positive and reassuring to me. I'm an expectant mother. It's now your job to cater to my every whim and desire."

His eyes twinkled. "You're going to milk this for all its worth aren't you?"

"Absolutely, can't even believe you would ask me that. Now, speaking of cows, get me some ice cream, the kind made out of soy though." She waved vaguely toward the garage. "Away with you. I don't want to see you in this house again without a frozen non-dairy treat."

He laughed and kissed her, easing back down so he wasn't squishing her in any manner. "I can't believe you're pregnant."

"I can't believe I don't have ice cream." She quipped back.

He smiled down at her and his hand settled on her stomach. "Do you really want ice cream right now?" He asked as he settled down next to her on the couch, keeping his hand flat over her abdomen.

She pressed back into him. "I can wait."

Turning her head around she found him gazing down at his hand. The man had an oddly blank look on his face and she touched his cheek again. "Hey." She whispered, and his eyes came back to hers. "This is real."

"Give me a few minutes to absorb that concept."

"Fair enough." She murmured right before she kissed him sweetly. "I'll just lay here and grow a very tiny kidney or something while you do that."

He laughed softly and tucked her closer to him. He was quiet for a little while and she occupied herself by eyeing the crossword that was lying on the table and filling in the blanks with her mind instead of a pencil. He interrupted her about midway through. "What are you thinking about?"

"What a nine letter word for superior quality is."

He frowned and then spotted the newspaper. "You're doing the crossword right now?"

"You were absorbing. I already integrated the news, what else was I supposed to be doing?"

He huffed out a laugh. "I don't know." He kissed her again and eased his hand under her shirt so he could touch her skin. A smile lit up his face. "I really don't." Suddenly he kissed her very enthusiastically and she hummed in surprised approval. "Christ, I'm so happy."

She smiled at him and caressed his cheek. "Good." She pecked his lips again. "Take this moment and memorize it. I want you to look back on it a year from now when we haven't slept for weeks and he's got colic."

"I want a girl." He complained teasingly.

"Oh, don't even try to put that antiquated notion on me. The baby gets one X-chromosome from me and you supply the other sex gene. It's not my fault if you delivered a Y and get a boy. Talk to your manly bits about that."

He chuckled again and turned her over so they were facing one another. She hooked her leg up over his hip and he tickled her neck with his thumb. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Walking into my life."

Her lip twitched like crazy. "As I recall you stormed into mine whilst having a temper tantrum."

He just kept on smiling. "I don't remember it that way."

"Really?" She asked dryly.

"As I recall I walked in and politely asked you to explain your report. Then I commented on how nice your shoes were."

"You are such a liar!" She accused as she started to poke at him. "And don't try to flatter me with my shoes! I know how awesome they are, I don't need you to tell me!"

He laughed as she hit his ribs and started to wrestle her with playful gentleness. He let her wear herself out and when she gave up trying to overpower him he tucked her back against him snuggly. "Let's go out for lunch and celebrate."

"Greek?"

"You want baklava don't you?"

"Indeed I do."

"Okay." He kissed her and sat them up. "We'll stop and get you ice cream on the way back."

"Soy ice cream." She insisted.

"Soy ice cream." He agreed. "Since when do you eat this many sweets in a day?"

"Since I stopped drinking caffeine."

"What?" He said that like she had just told him the earth was made of string cheese.

"It's bad for the baby. Why do you think I was so grumpy the last two weeks? I was in withdrawal."

"You said you didn't find out until last week."

"The doctor confirmed it last week. I was pretty sure I had a bun in the oven before I went. I don't think sugar is too bad for it the way caffeine is."

"I thought you said no gender oriented activities directed toward our baby?"

She laughed and stood up. "I'll give you that one." He got up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Holding her close he buried his face in her neck briefly. She leaned back into him and put her arms over his. They stood like that for a minute before she went disturbingly honest on him. "I'm pretty nervous about this, David."

He nuzzled her skin. "Why?"

"I'm not sure I'll be a very good mom. I don't want to be like mine, but I don't know how else to be. That's really all I've got to go on."

He was quiet for a second. "I don't want to be like my father either."

"You're nothing like your father." She told him firmly. "At least not the parts you're worried about."

"I'm worried about what parts you think I got."

She rubbed his arm gently. "You look like him, and you're smart like him, and you're sneaky like him, but you aren't mean like him, and you aren't a coward like him. You would never hurt a child and certainly not your own. I saw how you were with Kate and Lila. You'll be a great dad."

"And you'll be a great mother, don't worry so much. The baby isn't even here yet." He turned her around and kissed her gently. "We'll do just fine together."

"I suppose we've muddle along well enough so far."

"Now that that's settled let's go get some-"

She tapped his chest excitedly. "Baklava!"

He smiled indulgently. "Yes, baklava."

"Cool!"

Laughing he loosened his arms and urged her toward the door. "Let's take the Chevy, it's nice out and we can role the windows down."

"Okay." She agreed cheerfully as she picked up her purse and he grabbed his keys and shoved his wallet in his back pocket.

"I think we need to go get furniture for the baby's room."

"Next weekend." She said firmly. "Let's have one more weekend just for us."

"One more." He agreed as he took her hand. She smiled and his eyes twinkled, a moment later and he lifted her arm and spun her around. Laughing in delight she let him take her to the car and open the door for her. He shut it when she was settled and she relaxed back into the seat as she appreciated the situation she found herself in. As he got in he glanced over at her. "What are you thinking about?"

"That I'm happy." She told him honestly.

He turned the car on as he smiled. "Me too." He started backing out of the garage. "I'll be even happier when Joel and Fearless stop taking you out in the field."

"What?" She asked in disbelief.

"If you think you're taking our baby out to crime scenes you're sadly mistaken."

She rolled her eyes. "Look, ghost boy, it's not like I'm going out guns blazing to take out a posse, I'm looking at evidence-"

"No." He said firmly.

"Must we fight about this?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"This isn't a fight. This is me telling you no."

She huffed out a breath as she rallied herself for this. It was so wrong that she had so much fun arguing with this man. Actually, she pretty much agreed with him, but that didn't mean she had to _agree_ with him. "Because you get to decide."

"That's my baby in there." He said jerking his thumb at her midsection. "And besides, soon you'll be fat anyway so I don't see what you could really do-"

"_What?_" She snapped. "Did you just call me fat?"

"I said you will be fat."

Her eyes narrowed. "I am growing a person! I can't believe you called me fat! I am not fat!"

"Fine, round-"

"I know you aren't this stupid." She growled. "Honestly, when you start loosing hair I swear I'm changing your name to bald boy and-"

"You know my name is David. I don't even like that stupid nickname. I only let you use it because-"

"It's true?"

He sent her a sideways glance. "Look, fatty-"

She smacked him. "I swear to God-"

"Don't swear in front of the baby. They pick up on everything."

"He can't hear!"

"How do you know?"

"We're connected!" She responded as she waved at her stomach.

"I bet she doesn't even have ears yet. You should try getting fat faster."

She spluttered indignantly. "I can't make the process go faster!"

He sent her a dry look. "You aren't even trying to make it go faster are you?"

She let out a frustrated noise. "That's it, I'm not talking to you, again. Twice in one day, a new record."

He pulled to a stop at a light and leaned over. He kissed her cheek gently. "I love you."

"Love you too." She grumbled grudgingly. "Even though you're mean to me."

He kissed her cheek again, sweetly, and she batted at him. He laughed and turned her head so he could press his lips against hers. "So you won't go out then?"

"No." She murmured as her lips twitched.

He caressed her cheek and turned his attention forward again. "Good." Finding his hand she twined their fingers together. "I would hate to have to drag you out of the precinct with all the extra weight." Glaring daggers at him she revved herself up for round two. Life with McNorris was never going to be boring, that was for damn sure, but it sure made things a lot more fun.

Author Note: Another one done! I had such fun with this one and I hope those of you that were reading this did too! Boomtown is a fun place to hang out in! Thanks for all the reviews on this! Loved 'em! I'll be getting back to Catalyst next so stay tuned!


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